Ava Kuyken

Ava made her competitive debut for Arsenal Women on 16 November 2017 aged 16 against Watford in the Continental Cup as a substitute in the 80th minute, coming on for Heather O'Reilly. She made her Women's Super League debut on 7 February 2018 against Liverpool as a substitute in the 87th minute coming on for Jordan Nobbs.[2] She was a regular named squad player throughout the 2017–18 season, a year in which Arsenal won the Continental Cup, progressed to the final of the FA Cup and finished 3rd in the Women's Super League. She made four appearances in her first year with the 1st team.[3]

2018–19 saw another year with the Arsenal Women, alongside competing her A-Level studies at Cherwell School in Oxford. She made her first full debut on 5 December aged 17 with a 5,0 win against Charlton Athletic WFC in the Continental Cup. She made her full debut in the WSL[4] on 27 January 2019 against Reading WFC, in a game they won 3–0.[5] She was a regular named squad member throughout the season making, making 12 appearances in the WSL (7), 3 in the Continental Cup and 2 in the FA Cup. They won the 2018/2019 WSL League[6] and progressed to the Continental Cup Final losing to Manchester City in penalties.[7] She was named as youth player of the year in a round of the year by the Daily Cannon.[8] Alongside her 1st team duties Ava played with the Arsenal U21 squad. This included the FA Cup, which they went on to win 4–0 in a final against Manchester United.[9]

In August 2019, she took up a college scholarship with the Florida Gators, who compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Southeastern Conference.[10] As a freshman, Ava has been a regular player, being one of only 19 freshman who have started regularly in the program's 25 year history.. The COVID-19 pandemic affected her sophomore year. But Ava maintained her fitness and sought out additional coaching from elite coaches in the UK and USA involved in professional football. She trained with WSL sides during the off season. Her player Gators profile is here

Ava has been selected and played consistently for England through the U15, U16, U17, U18 and U19s. In 2017–18 the England U17 squad qualified via the elite rounds to the FIFA European finals in Lithuania. Ava made full appearances against Spain, Finland and Germany. They progressed to the semi-final, where they were knocked out by Germany. In 2019 with the U18s she played in a friendly games, including against Canada and Scotland. In 2019/2020, she was selected for the UEFA Women's U19 Championship Euros 1st qualifying round in Belarus. They beat Cyprus 8–0 and Belarus 3–0. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the U19 Euros.