IRVINE, Calif. --- The Anteaters stepped outside of the United States for one of their new members in the form of midfielder Naomi Bakr.

Bakr comes from Cairo, Egypt and is a graduate of Cairo American College. She led her school to three CISSA league titles and a fourth-place finish in the ISST, and garnered all-tournament and MVP honors twice each as well.

She has also spent extensive time with the national team and highly-regarded club teams in the region. She has played year-round with her club team in the Egyptian Premier League and trained with the Egyptian women's national team.

As a youth, she played in Spain with the FC Barcelona women's youth squad and the FC Barcelona Academy in Egypt catching the eye of many scouts and club officials which includes UCI head coach Scott Juniper.

"I am really looking forward to working with Naomi. She is a soccer player with a huge appetite for the game and once she figures out the transition to U.S. collegiate soccer, I am excited to see what she can do. She is most likely to get her opportunity to play in behind our forwards or just off the front as a recessed forward."

The 5-4 midfielder has a real passion for the game having played ever since she was seven. Her passion even flows into her schooling where she was a two-time academic honor student at Cairo American College and even was student council president in 10th grade. She has her eyes set on a buisness economics major and hopes to have a hand in the family business if not still playing soccer post-UCI.

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