{"id":79917,"date":"2025-12-11T22:56:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T22:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79917\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T22:56:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T22:56:28","slug":"bella-hara-makes-professional-goalkeeper-debut-for-fort-lauderdale-united-fc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79917\/","title":{"rendered":"Bella Hara makes professional goalkeeper debut for Fort Lauderdale United FC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Lena Moreno, December 9, 2025<\/p>\n

From starting soccer late in her youth to becoming a national champion, former Cal Poly Pomona women\u2019s soccer goalkeeper Bella Hara now plays for Fort Lauderdale United FC, a professional women\u2019s soccer club in South Florida.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Offered a spot on the team after graduating from CPP, she now resides in Florida kick-starting her professional soccer career.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far this season, Hara has tied for third place in the league in with three shutouts and a goals-against average score of 1.23, according to The Gainbridge Super League.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Above all, Hara considers her professional debut in the first Fort Lauderdale game of the season Aug. 23 versus Lexington SC her biggest accomplishment to date.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cComing straight out of college as a rookie who\u2019s never played at a pro level, I didn\u2019t think I would get the opportunity to play minutes at all,\u201d Hara said. \u201cTo get the opportunity to start and to continue to be starting this season has been huge.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Hara is focused on remaining as a starter for the current Fort Lauderdale season and is striving to place top three in the league in goal against average by the end of the season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Hara playing in the middle of a match versus Dallas Trinity September 13, 2025. The 4-1 win placed Lauderdale in second place in the Gainbridge Super League standings. Image courtesy of Fort Lauderdale United FC<\/p>\n

In addition to playing in Fort Lauderdale\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team, she is also a goalkeeper for the Guam Football Association. Being of Guamanian decent qualified her with the senior national team, where she has 10 caps across all international play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Hara has set her sights on playing for the Nation Women\u2019s Soccer League in the future, taking after renowned soccer players such as Marta and Alex Morgan. According to Hara, she understands reaching this goal will require hard work and patience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m growing a lot tactically as a goalkeeper in a lot of different ways in a very short time,\u201d Hara said. \u201cI think this is the perfect environment for me to just increase my game and take my game to the next level.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having Division II national championship player status to her name made it possible to play professionally straight out of college, she said. To get here, the training, networking and soccer trials were a long time coming.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a firm foundation in my identity as a player and a person allowed me to play my best while I was on trial here and allowed me to showcase my best skills, which eventually landed me the contract,\u201d Hara said.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Fort Lauderdale\u2019s starting XI group at Carolina Ascent FC on November 8, 2025, with Lauderdale winning 1-0. Hara secured her third shutout of the season. Image courtesy of Fort Lauderdale United FC<\/p>\n

After experimenting with gymnastics, ice skating, volleyball, basketball and track, Hara gave soccer a try at age 10. Initially a field player, Hara attempted goalkeeping after her middle school soccer coach let her play in the position for a weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hara grew fond of the position since she preferred short-distance sprinting. Utilizing her jumping abilities from her previous volleyball and gymnastics experience also aided her success in the position.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She then joined an all-star soccer team and club soccer to further hone her athletic skills.\u00a0 Hara felt she had finally specialized in goalkeeping by the age of 13.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI eventually bounced around and found San Diego Surf, which is a very soccer dominant in the country club,\u201d Hara said. \u201cI was able to really grow as a player there and be around really high-level players.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hara\u2019s commitment to goalkeeping grew stronger each day, continuing to pursue the position in college at Azusa Pacific University in 2021as a biology student. The transitional period between colleges placed her in a low mental state, according to Hara. Feelings of heightened competition anxiety occurred, resulting in her seeing a sports psychologist.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t playing like myself at Azusa, which is why I transferred,\u201d Hara said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel like that was the best environment for me to thrive, but I love the girls and the people there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hara said she needed a stronger mindset going into her first spring season at CPP in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once she joined the women\u2019s soccer team at CPP, head coach Jay Mason and assistant coach Dan Richards created an environment that drove excellence and healthy competitiveness, Hara said, ultimately allowing her to foster a growth mindset in the game and develop as a player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Head coach Jay Mason played a contributing role in helping Hara find connections, extra training and was the \u201ccatalyst\u201d in her professional soccer career. Along with her family, who take the effort to travel from California to Florida to watch Hara play in Fort Lauderdale. Image courtesy of Bella Hara<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the sports psychology that I had gone through, I was able to compete emotionally,\u201d Hara said. \u201cI was emotionally well, and I was able to push myself to the highest level because I was mentally in a good space. I think that environment, that team and the girls that have gone through that program would say the same.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hara particularly thanks Mason for pushing her in the best way possible in her two and a half years at CPP.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to think we did, but I think at the end of the day, it comes down to her.\u201d Mason said. \u201cHer determination, her perseverance, the support system she has at home that supports what she does and who she is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In terms of training before her Fort Lauderdale trial, Hara also thanks CPP men\u2019s soccer head coach Matt O\u2019Sullivan for increasing her goalkeeping speed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were days she\u2019d train with us and then step in with the men\u2019s goalkeepers to do their pre-practice stuff,\u201d Mason said. \u201cShe just really loved what she did, and I think that just filtered into the group because it shows how much she cared about the team\u2019s success.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to her impact on the team, Hara also fostered a long-term friendship with current CPP forward Angelina Rivas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Forward Angelina Rivas friendship formed out of similarities in competitiveness and supporting one another through their faith. Rivas says Hara continuously supported, encouraged, and gave the team direction in which Rivas believes was the driving force that led the team to their 2024 National Champion win. Image courtesy of Bella Hara<\/p>\n

Their relationship and shared beliefs kept them grounded, according to Rivas and Hara. Hara was able to be a solid form of leadership for the team, transferring her skills as a captain last year to this year\u2019s team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know if she knows it, but she was everything that got me through last year,\u201d Rivas said. \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s really sad that I may not get the opportunity to play with her ever again, but hopefully our paths cross again on the field.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s soccer team is now the two-time NCAA West Regional Champions, testifying to the program\u2019s commitment toward their players looking to play professionally outside college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through her support system of the entire program and her family, Hara pushed herself to her highest potential from CPP to her time now at Lauderdale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe girls at Cal Poly and the girls on the team right now, they are some of my best friends and also my biggest cheerleaders, even when I hadn\u2019t gotten the contract yet,\u201d Hara said. \u201cI just love Cal Poly with my entire heart and soul.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Feature image courtesy of Fort Lauderdale United FC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Lena Moreno, December 9, 2025 From starting soccer late in her youth to becoming a national champion,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-79917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}