Soccer: Chloe Nott stars for Tamworth FC after returning from US journey

The 27-year-old spent the last six years in the US, where she originally went on a scholarship to play soccer at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake - a small village nestled in upstate New York, near the Canadian border.

Soon after she arrived, Nott picked up lacrosse in addition to soccer, and it quickly became a new passion.

"Our soccer coach made us play, because he was the lacrosse coach as well and didn't have the numbers," Nott said.

"So all the soccer girls joined in and it ended up being a great opportunity. I loved it."

In 2016 and 2017, she was named in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American Honors for both sports.

After eventually transferring to Quincy College in Illinois from 2019, she continued to play as a dual-sport athlete for the remainder of her time in the US.

In late 2022, Nott returned to Tamworth, where the Windsor product had lived since the age of two, but was unsure if she would play soccer again.

Eventually, she elected to re-join Tamworth FC, the club of her youth, just a week before the 2023 season began.

"When I played lacrosse, I took some time off soccer," she said.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to come back to it, but coming back here now it's just nice to get back with the girls, be relaxed, and have some fun."

Statistically, it was a shrewd choice. Nott now has 11 goals for the year, including the only one in Tamworth FC's 1-0 victory over OVA on Saturday, which puts her at third on the women's scorers' chart this year.

The striker "didn't have long" to line up her shot on the weekend, and struck it with her left boot - which she said "isn't my ideal foot" - but it found the bottom right corner nonetheless.

She has clearly relished the low-pressure atmosphere of the regional soccer competition, which she said differed starkly to the near-professional level of commitment required at American colleges.

"The energy and opportunity over there for sport is massive compared to here," Nott said.

"Especially women's sport, they put so much effort and hype into it. They're really pushing to make women's sport a big thing, which is nice.

"It's pretty competitive, you've got a whole bunch of college-aged students and you're training every day, it's intense."

Now working as a gardener for CH Group, Nott has enjoyed being back home - though she did say it was hard to farewell the many close friends she had made in the US.

"It's sad to leave friends, and the lifestyle that you have over there," she said.

"But it has been really nice. It's a good community here, especially sport-wise."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: