Aleisha Cramer Rose: Mormon Athlete
Aleisha Cramer Rose is a former college soccer midfielder and member of the US Women’s National Soccer Team. In 2004, she became an assistant collegiate coach.
She came to Brigham Young University as the 1999 national high school player of the year, the country's top prep recruit, and a protégé of the US National Team program. When she graduated, she ended her career as all-time career assist leader. She was named to All-America lists each of her first three seasons. Twice, she was one of 15 female candidates for the Hermann Trophy, given to the top Division I player. Rose never scored fewer than six goals and never had fewer than nine assists in a single season.
Rose was born on July 29, 1982, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. She grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. At age 16, she became the third youngest player to have ever played on the US Women’s National Team. By the end of her senior year, she had become one of the top recruits in the country and was named 1999 National Gatorade HS Player of the Year. Her national coach called her “the [most] impactful player in women’s college soccer today. . . . She changed the game.”[1]
Rose is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2003 she left the national team citing her desire to honor her faith and not play games on Sunday. She left the national team prior to the 2003 World Cup and 2004 Olympics.
- “I had everything,” said Aleisha. “I had a good family. I had friends. I was going to school at BYU. I was playing really well for the national team. But would I keep working towards making the World Cup team and still feel this emptiness?”
- Then, while in China to play exhibition games, Aleisha woke up one night crying. She felt a wonderful warm, comfortable feeling. “I remember putting my hand on my heart, and then I just had all these thoughts: ‘You need to quit the national team. It’s not okay for you to break the Sabbath day. It’s okay for you to take a different path. Things will work out.’” She describes being filled with the Spirit and having the experience repeated several nights in a row.[2]
Rose earned her bachelor’s degree in Marriage, Family and Human Development. In 2004, she became an assistant coach for BYU, a post she held until 2018.[3]
She and her husband, Chris, are the parents of three children. In 2015, she was inducted into the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor.
