TU soccer star ready to take center stage during 2023 World Cup qualifiers
Nia Christopher has been a starter for the Bermuda National Team during the 2022 CONCACAF championships
By Kyle Hobstetter on March 24, 2022
Since the age of four, Nia Christopher could be found on the soccer pitch.
The sophomore forward has had a love for the game ever since her father brought her to his matches back in their hometown of Devonshire, Bermuda.
Now she is on one of the biggest stages in soccer.
This spring, Christopher is playing for the Bermuda National Team during the 2022 Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Women’s Championship Games, which also serve as qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Christopher became the first Tiger to be called up to a senior national team as well as to play in a World Cup qualifying match when she played two games earlier this term. And while she’s the first person from TU to play for a national squad, she isn’t the first in her family. Her father Lloyd was a utility player for the men’s senior national soccer team.
After suffering an opening tournament loss to Jamaica on Feb. 20, Christopher led Bermuda to a 6-0 win over the Cayman Islands on Feb. 22, scoring three goals.
“I like to score,” Christopher laughs. “It’s just good because I’m getting my name out there. I want people to know who I am. It’s such a great feeling because I know not many people get the opportunity to do this.”
“Watching Nia represent her country is thrilling,” says Towson University soccer coach Katherine Vettori. “She is the first full national team player we have had at TU, and I can't tell you how many calls and texts I received from TU fans when Nia had a hat trick and an assist versus the Cayman Islands—and this was before there were any press releases or social media posts.”
TU Magazine: Check out TU Magazine's profile on Nia Christopher
Before her February CONCACAF matches, Christopher says she received good luck texts from many of her TU teammates and coaches. But that wasn’t the only reminder she had of Towson University.
Even when playing for a shot at the World Cup, Christopher doesn’t get to take a break from her studies. In fact, there were times where the sport management major had homework assignments due the day of her matches.
“You don’t want to fall behind,” Christopher says. “My professors have been great with my schedule, but they expect you stay on top of your work. There have been times before training or even the day of the games where I’ve had to do homework, because it’s due.”
Christopher returned to campus in February but hasn’t stopped training.
She rejoins the Bermuda National Team on April 5 and will continue with CONCACAF group play in a match against the Dominican Republic on April 8, followed by a match against Grenada four days later.
In the meantime, she and the rest of the TU soccer team are in spring training, which features five scrimmages this April.
Since stepping onto the pitch for TU, Christopher has taken the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) by storm. During her freshman season, which was held in spring 2021 due to COVID-19, she was named to the All-CAA Second Team and the CAA All-Rookie Team.
In her sophomore season, in fall 2021, she was named to the All-CAA First Team and was second in the league in goals and third in points.
“Nia possesses a unique skill set: She is quick, fast, technical and sees the game,” Vettori says. “Above all, she is a fantastic teammate and brings a positive energy to our team culture. She is a joy to be around every single day, and it's contagious.”
Christopher has always pushed the limits in soccer. She moved to the United States when she was 15 because there wasn’t a women’s league in Bermuda. In fact, from ages four to 13, she played in boys’ leagues.
Originally settled in Georgia, she finished her last three years of high school at John Carroll High School in Bel Air, Maryland. When looking to continue her soccer career, she saw Towson University as a way to stay close to the second home she built in Maryland.
And while she’s been playing the game since she could walk, she hasn’t lost the passion for it. When you catch Christopher in her free time, she’s most likely juggling a soccer ball.
“I just have a love for the game,” she says. “I want to play soccer, that’s what I want to do.”