Jayde Riviere

Jayde Yuk Fun Riviere (born January 22, 2001) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays defender for the Michigan Wolverines and the Canadian women's national soccer team, with whom Riviere won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Jayde Riviere

Personal information
Full name	Jayde Yuk Fun Riviere
Date of birth	(2001-01-22) January 22, 2001
Place of birth	Pickering, Ontario, Canada
Height	163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current team	Michigan Wolverines
Youth career
Years	Team
2005-2010	West Rouge SC
2011-2013	Pickering SC
2014-2016	Markham SC
2017-2019	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–	Michigan Wolverines	28	(1)
National team‡
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016	Canada U15	7	(4)
2016–2018	Canada U17	16	(2)
2018–	Canada U20	5	(0)
2017–	Canada	25	(1)
Honours Representing Canada Olympic Games 2020 Team
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of September 1, 2021

Early life

Riviere was born in Markham, Ontario, Canada to Dominica-born father, Tony Riviere, and Hong Kong-born mother, Emily Lui.

Riviere's parents introduced her to soccer at a young age. As a child, Riviere and her father frequently watched English Premiere League games, sparking Riviere's love for the game and leading to her knowing every Manchester United player's name as a young girl. The family transformed their home basement into a mini soccer field, where Tony shared his soccer knowledge with his daughter, teaching her drills, and first observing her potential as an athlete.

In her adolescence, Riviere attended Bill Crothers Secondary School. As a teenager, Riviere also played volleyball, flag football, and track and field.

Riviere graduated high school with academic honours – Honour Roll all four years as well as the Excellence Award for math – before proceeding to enroll and play soccer at the University of Michigan.

Club career

Early career

At age 4, Riviere started playing soccer for West Rouge SC in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Riviere went on to play for Pickering FC in Pickering, Ontario, before playing for Markham SC, in Markham, Ontario, in the York Region Soccer Association of Ontario Soccer (a member of the Canadian Soccer Association and FIFA), from 2014-2016, where she scored 50 goals in 20 games as a midfielder and earned Female Athlete of the Year honours. From 2017-2018, she played for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Super REX program in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

College career

In 2014, at age 14, Riviere verbally committed to play soccer at the University of Michigan. Before officially fulfilling her commitment to and enrolling at Michigan in 2019, Riviere received a total of 29 full athletic scholarships to play collegiate soccer.

Freshman season (2019)

In 2019, as a freshman defender at Michigan, Riviere appeared in 16 games, starting 15, and missing two due to Team Canada national team duty. On November 8, 2019, Riviere recorded her first collegiate goal, the game-winning goal, in overtime of Michigan's Big Ten Tournament semi-finals against Rutgers University, sending Michigan to the Big Ten Tournament Final for the first time since 2005. She finished her freshman season with one goal and one assist playing on a Michigan defensive unit that recorded six shutouts. Riviere's freshman performance earned her 2019 Big Ten All-Freshman Team honours.

Sophomore season (Spring 2021)

After missing the first two matches of her sophomore campaign due to Canada national team duty, Riviere played in eight matches, starting six, and logged 495 minutes played for Michigan in the Covid-abbreviated 2021 season.

Junior season (Fall 2021)

As a junior defender, Riviere has played in all four of Michigan's matches to date, starting two matches and registering one assist, as she has significantly contributed to Michigan's 4-0 undefeated campaign, including three shutouts and only one goal allowed in four matches, and #18 national ranking, per the United Soccer Coaches poll (as of September 1, 2021).

International career

Youth national teams (Team Canada)

In 2015, at age 14, Riviere was invited to and attended the Women's Excel U-17 Camp (via Team Canada's national soccer program) – the first of 16 U-17 and U-20 Team Canada camps to which she would be invited.

In 2016, Riviere played in seven matches (four goals, three assists) for Canada's U-15 national team and six matches (one goal) for the U-17 national team. As a member of Canada's U-15 squad, Riviere won a silver medal with Team Canada at the CONCACAF U-15 Championships in Orlando, Florida, earning "Player of the Game" honours in two of Canada's tournament matches (vs. El Salvador and vs. Curacao). As a member of the U-17 squad, Riviere represented Canada at both the CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship in Grenada and the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Jordan.

In 2017, at age 16, Riviere was invited to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite BC Soccer Rex Women's EXCEL U-17 camp.

In 2018, Riviere, at age 17, played 10 matches (one goal) for Canada's U-17 national team and five matches for Canada's U-20 national team. That year, she represented her country on Canada's U-20 team at the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, starting five matches. Later in 2018, at the Women's U-17 CONCACAF Championship, Riviere played in five games for Canada, helping her squad earn a bronze medal and qualification for the U-17 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay. At the U-17 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay, Riviere started all five matches for Team Canada, who ultimately fell short in the bronze medal match against New Zealand.

Senior national team (Team Canada)

On November 12, 2017, Riviere, at age 16, made her international debut for Canada's women's senior national team, playing 20 minutes a substitute in Canada's 3-1 loss to the United States in an international friendly match.

On April 8, 2019, Riviere, at age 18, made her first senior national team start in an international friendly match against Nigeria in Spain.

On May 25, 2019, Riviere was named to Canada's women's national team roster for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, before which Riviere had only recorded five caps (career international appearances). Just 24 hours before Canada's second game against New Zealand, Riviere, Team Canada's second youngest player at the time, learned that she would be starting the game at right back (defender), replacing Allysha Chapman, who played every minute of Canada's 2015 World Cup run. The match against New Zealand was Riviere's second career international start. Overall, in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup tournament, Riviere played in three games (one start, two substitutions). In total for Canada's senior national team in 2019, Riviere played in eight games (three starts, five substitutions) and accrued 321 minutes played.

In 2020, Riviere played in six games (six starts), totalled 400 minutes, scored her first career international goal and two assists for Canada's senior national team, including four games started in Canada's matches and earning a silver medal at the 2020 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship.

In February 2021, Riviere competed in the SheBelieves Cup on Canada's senior national team, playing in three matches (two starts, one substitution).

Riviere earned a roster spot on Team Canada for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games – one of only three active college players to be named to the Team Canada squad as well as one of two Michigan Wolverine soccer players ever to compete in soccer at an Olympic Games. In Tokyo, Riviere helped Team Canada go undefeated in the tournament and win the gold medal, defeating Sweden in penalties in the gold medal match on August 6, 2021. In her Olympic debut, Riviere started, played every minute of and drew two fouls in Canada's group stage 2-1 victory over Chile. She started and played every minute of Canada's next group stage match against Great Britain (1-1 draw). In Canada's quarterfinal penalty shootout win over Brazil, Riviere played 11 minutes as an extra time substitute. Riviere then played 27 minutes as a substitute in Canada's gold medal match victory over Sweden.

To date (as of September 1, 2021), on Canada's women's senior national team, Riviere has accrued 25 appearances, 14 starts, one goal and two assists. In 2021, she has played in 10 games (five starts, five substitutions) for a total of 527 minutes.

Injuries

In March 2016, in her international debut at the 2016 U-17 CONCACAF Championships in St. George's, Grenada, Riviere suffered a dislocated knee, which sidelined her until her return to the pitch in September 2016 at the 2016 U-17 World Cup in Jordan.

In 2019, Riviere suffered a minor groin injury, but continued to play through the ailment.

College stats

source:

Year	Team	Age	GP	GS	SUB	MIN	G	A
2019	Michigan	18	16	15	1	1,158	1	1
2020	Michigan	19	8	6	2	496	0	1
2021	Michigan	20	4	2	2	248	0	1
Total	Michigan		28	23	5	1,902	1	3

International stats

Canada
Year	Team	Age	GP	GS	SUB	MIN	G	A
2016	U-15	15	7	6	1	367	4	3
2016	U-17	15	6	4	2	332	1	0
2017	WNT	16	1	0	1	20	0	0
2018	U-17	17	10	9	1	774	1	0
2018	U-20	17	5	5	0	406	0	0
2019	WNT	18	8	3	5	321	0	0
2020	WNT	19	6	6	0	400	1	2
2021	WNT	20	10	5	5	527	0	0
Total	U-15		7	6	1	367	4	3
Total	U-17		16	13	3	1,106	2	0
Total	U-20		5	5	0	406	0	0
Total	WNT		25	14	11	1,268	1	2

Personal

Riviere's father, Tony, is a former, recently retired Toronto Police Superintendent. Tony played soccer at Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada before going on to play at the provincial club level in the Toronto District Soccer League in Ontario. Her mother, Emily Lui, works as a marketing manager. Riviere speaks English and understands Chinese. As a child, her favourite soccer players were Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Kadeisha Buchanan and Marta. On August 6, 2021, City of Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti declared August 6 to be "Jayde Riviere Day" in Markham after Team Canada's Gold Medal performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Riviere is enrolled in Michigan's School of Kinesiology. While her major is undeclared, she plans to earn a degree in movement science and pursue a career as a pharmacist. At Michigan, her academic excellence has earned her several honours, including the U-M Academic Achievement Award honoree (2019) and Academic All-Big Ten (2020).