RICHMOND, Va. – (Wednesday, July 17, 2019) – The Richmond Kickers and the Spence family were pleased to honor Emma Muir with the 2019 Avery Spence Youth Community Service Award during halftime at the Kickers pro game versus the North Texas FC Saturday night.  Established to honor Kickers youth player, Avery Spence who was tragically killed in an automobile accident on May 1, 2011, the Avery Spence Youth Community Service Award was presented to Muir by the Spence family based on criteria including exemplary volunteer involvement, commitment, leadership and athletic and academic achievements.

A member of the Richmond Kickers travel program since 2010 (U9), Emma has been an incredible teammate and leader, captaining several teams throughout her youth career. Rob Ukrop coach of the Richmond Kickers Elite team, praised Emma’s character both on and off the field.  “Emma was an incredible teammate this past fall and spring as she battled back from ACL surgery. Balancing academics, knee rehabilitation, and community service she is an incredible role model for other soccer players in our club. I’m confident Avery would have been proud to see Emma receive this award.”

As a four year member of the Cosby varsity soccer team, Emma was named all district second team in 2017 and 2018 and first team all-region in 2018 before suffering an ACL tear her junior year. She battled back from her injury to captain Cosby her senior year. 

As a student, Emma was enrolled in the Health Science Specialty Center at Cosby; graduating with honors and a 4.15 GPA. She was a member of National Honor Society, Beta Club, SCA Representative, and Senior Class Historian. Emma graduated high school with more than 15 college credits and received both the President’s Award Scholarship and the Trustee’s Award Scholarship from Randolph-Macon College.

While Emma’s athletic and academic accomplishments are impressive, her volunteer work and commitment to others is unparalleled. She volunteered her time with Mercy Mall and the Chesterfield Food Bank, as well as over 100 hours through EVLV and FYP Soccer coaching and mentoring young girls. Through her time with RVAccess, Emma truly discovered what it meant to help others, discovering joy through service and plans on continuing to serve others throughout her life.  

Emma is continuing her soccer career at Randolph-Macon College as a member of the Honors College this fall. She is the daughter of Josh and Amy Muir and sister of Abbey, Catherine, and Molly Muir.  

About the Avery Spence Youth Community Service Award

Richmond Kickers President, Board of Directors Rob Ukrop presented the inaugural Avery Spence Youth Community Service award to the Spence family on July 8, 2011, to honor the memory of Kickers youth player Avery Spence and her commitment to the Richmond community.  A longstanding member of the Richmond Kickers youth club, she started with the Kickers rec program when she was nine years old, progressing with arguably the best girls team in the Kickers Girls Elite program over seven seasons.  A committed volunteer, Avery donated countless hours throughout the Richmond community, was in the academic top ten in her class at Manchester High School and was heading to Virginia Tech in the fall to pursue a career in dentistry.  Avery had a love for life, sharing her time and talent with kids of all ages. Past award recipients include former Kickers players Ashley Riefner (University of Richmond), Blayne Fink (Virginia Tech),  Peter Coiley (Virginia Tech), Blake Cashin (VMI), Sawyer Gaffney (Davidson), Shaan Sharma (William and Mary), and Caelan Colaiacovo (Coker College).