FORT MYERS, Fla. – Former FGCU women's soccer standout Julia Roddar was selected to her first Olympic team as she will represent Sweden in the upcoming Tokyo games this July.

Roddar, who was named as a reserve, represented the Swedish national team in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup where they captured third place. In the 2016 summer Olympics, Sweden finished as the runner-up behind Germany.

In Group G, Sweden will face the reigning World Cup champion USA alongside Australia and New Zealand. Roddar has compiled nine caps for the senior national team and most recently appeared in a friendly match against Australia earlier this month where she played the full 90 minutes at left back.

"We're so proud of Julia and excited for her," said head women's soccer coach Jim Blankenship. "This opportunity and experience to represent her country in the Olympics is truly amazing."

Roddar spent her freshman season at Wisconsin before joining the Green and Blue in 2012. In her three-year stretch with the Eagles, she started in all 62 matches she appeared in, netting four goals with 10 assists.  FGCU went 21-1-3 in ASUN play after Roddar's arrival with three ASUN regular season championships, two ASUN Tournament titles, and two NCAA Tournament berths.

The Falun, Sweden native is also a current member of the Washington Spirit out of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).  

She becomes FGCU's ninth Olympian overall and will be one of two Eagles featured in next month's Olympic games. Petra Halmai, who is currently on the FGCU swimming & diving team, will be there to represent her country of Hungary.

The opening ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held on Friday, July 23 and the action will run through Sunday, Aug. 8. NBC will broadcast the entirety of the games and each event can additionally be watched on the NBCOlympics.com live stream. For a more detailed view of the daily competition schedule, click here.

Women's Soccer Olympic Draw
Group E
Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Chile

Group F
China, Brazil, Zambia, Netherlands

FGCU Olympians
Beijing 2008 – Dani Beaubrun (Swimming, St. Lucia), Eva Lehtonen (Swimming, Finland)
London 2012 – Dani Beaubrun (Swimming, St. Lucia), Karen Vilorio (Swimming, Honduras)
Rio 2016 – Lani Cabrera (Swimming, Barbados), Evita Leter (Swimming, Suriname), Brooke Sweat (Beach Volleyball, USA)
Tokyo 2020 – Petra Halmai (Swimming, Hungary), Julia Roddar (Women's Soccer, Sweden)

For complete coverage of FGCU women's soccer, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_WSoccer and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU women's soccer or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

COACH JIM BLANKENSHIP
A veteran of over two decades in collegiate coaching, head coach Jim Blankenship, who was named the ASUN Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019, has built FGCU women's soccer into a yearly contender in the ASUN Conference and a rising program in the South Region in just 13 seasons. Blankenship started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to 13 double-digit win seasons, culminating with ASUN Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2011 and 2012 he also led the Eagles to back-to-back ASUN Tournament titles as they became the first team in the history of the university to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles went on to win the 2014 ASUN Tournament and hosted the first NCAA Championship event on campus. The Eagles earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance with the 2015 ASUN Tournament Championship and won their first NCAA game at USF in 2015 while finishing 24th in the nation. In 2016, the Eagles made it three-consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament with a third-straight ASUN Tournament title. A year later, the Eagles became the first ASUN women's soccer program to make four-straight NCAA Tournaments with another tournament title in 2017. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 174-62-27 (.711) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 86-17-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 414-133-38 (.740) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.