Hannah Seabert has come home.
More experienced, certainly. Wiser in the ways of the world, and where an American athlete fits into the culture of women’s soccer in Europe. And grateful to have the opportunity to return to Southern California, relatively close – depending on SoCal traffic patterns – to where she grew up in Riverside.
“Living abroad is such a unique and amazing experience,” said Seabert, Angel City FC’s new goalkeeper, who spent the past seven seasons with clubs in Denmark, Norway and Portugal. “I think I was really lucky. … I’m really glad that’s where my career led me, because it just broadens your perspective on life.
“You know, we talk about how we live in our bubbles, right? Well, I was many, many bubbles away from my hometown. And so I just interacted and learned so much about so many cultures. I mean, yes, the Danish, Norwegian and Portugese culture, but even with my teammates, (because) they were from all over as well.
“It was really good to just kind of see where me and my country fit into this world,” she continued. “I think it just made me realize how big of an influence I can have but also how small I am, all at the same time.”
Seabert was a high school star at Riverside’s Woodcrest Christian High School. Then she was a college star at Pepperdine, where she was a four-year starter, set a program record for saves and was second in victories and third in shutouts, and as a senior led the Waves to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and earned West Coast Conference goalkeeper of the year honors.
Coming out of college, she spent the 2017 season with the NWSL’s Orlando Pride – basically an apprenticeship, since she never played a match but spent that season learning to be a pro from goalkeeper coach Lloyd Yaxley and the players in front of her, Ashlyn Harris and Aubrey Kingsbury.
From there, the great adventure began. Seabert, now 30, was the 2018 Danish League player of the year with Fortuna Hjørring, helping that club to the 2018 Danish League and 2019 Danish Cup titles. She then joined Vålerenga in Norway’s top league and helped that team to a league championship in 2020 and the Norwegian Cup title in ’20 and ‘ 21.
And in three seasons with Sporting CP in Portugal, she participated in a Portugal Cup championship in 2022 and a Portugal Super Cup title in 2024, set a club record by appearing in 87 matches and was not only the league’s goalkeeper of the year three times but also Sporting’s captain.
“The European game, it’s really nice because they utilize their goalkeepers a lot” in the offensive buildup, she said. “In Denmark, that was the first time that I experienced needing to use my feet and kind of being a pivot in the back or sending a long ball for an offensive opportunity.”
Getting involved with the offense wasn’t stressed as much with her club in Norway, she said, “but then in Portugal, it was even more technical and they expected even more from the goalkeepers. I felt like a field player, and it was so much fun. I loved that. That’s the biggest thing I gleaned from the European game, to basically be a third center back.”
And, she said, ACFC’s new head coach, Alexander Strauss, is Norwegian: “He’s teaching a new style, and it’s a style that I am already very familiar with.”
The accomplishments on the pitch mattered. But so did the experiences that went with them.
“I never felt like I needed to take a step back or that I needed to be something just because I was American,” Seabert said.
“It was just fun to see how our backgrounds and how our cultures created us into these individual humans. And then it was just so interesting how that manifests in terms of communication styles, conflict resolution styles, extroverted versus introverted within social situations in the locker room and team dynamics.”
These rosters were melting pots, in a sense, and for the most part she said those cultures mixed successfully. For the most part.
“It would be interesting because sometimes we didn’t feel like certain attributes of a culture were exactly productive for a team environment,” she said, pointing out a couple of cases where some players had “very direct communication styles” and others from different cultures were taken aback.
“There are difficulties” that come with that occasional clash of cultures, she said. “But I think there’s so much learning that comes with it also – if you choose to embrace it.”
Language wasn’t so much a barrier in the locker room, because with players from different countries with different languages, most team business was conducted in English. Seabert said she has a “decent” grasp of Portuguese, but less so in Danish and Norwegian because she hasn’t used them lately.
But there was this, as well: She said she missed making small talk with the cashier or the barista, something that we take for granted here but is less prevalent there.
“Americans are so friendly and open with strangers,” she said. “It’s something that’s really refreshing to be back around, and I’m really enjoying that.”
Seabert had let Sporting CP know in January that when her contract expired June 30, she would attempt to return to the U.S. Once Angel City entered the conversation, the choice was simple.
But even here there is adjustment, and it doesn’t all have to do with rediscovering the strains of freeway traffic. She talked about life events, friends’ “weddings and pregnancies and births and then everything in between like birthdays and anniversaries and bridal showers,” that she had missed. Being able to surprise a friend by showing up at her bridal shower last week was a treat.
And there was the adjustment to the details that make up adult life. She’d left for Europe when she was 22, and said that “because I was gone so long I basically had to start my life over in terms of opening new bank accounts, opening new credit cards, buying a car,” she said.
“It was kind of a crash course. It’s almost like I had never been an adult in America because I really hadn’t.”
But there’s one more aspect of returning to SoCal: Home, as in the place where she grew up, is no longer that far away. Those who are from Riverside – including this columnist – recognize the gravitational pull that Mt. Rubidoux, looming over downtown, holds over both those who have returned and those who never left.
“I say, ‘I’m from Riverside, I am from close by,’” when people ask, she said. “I actually really enjoy saying that and I think there’s something really special about reconnecting with your roots.”
It is, indeed, good to be home.
jalexander@scng.com