My Top 5: Houston Dash Midfielder Sophie Schmidt

The fall volume of our My Top 5 series continues, highlighting local leaders, champions and point-makers—while asking them to share their own personal Houston scorecard and reveal how they spend their free time when their eyes can’t be on the ball.

This week we’re pumped to showcase Houston Dash midfielder and Olympic gold medalist Sophie Schmidt, #13, who shares her favorite ways to enjoy Houston when she’s not hard at work playing on the pitch, training, recovering, and showing up for her team and club.

This week also brings the final home game of the 2025 regular season for Houston’s NWSL team—complete with fan appreciation night with ticket savings, extras and giveaways—as we face off against Kansas City Current on Saturday, October 18, 2025. 

In their 2025 season, the Dash saw a lot of big changes, with the arrival of new Head Coach Fabrice Gautrat, new players and strategies, and markedly improving performances and standings as the year advanced and the team gelled. 

This summer, Sophie helped build and secure the Dash’s 6-match unbeaten streak, a club record, twice scoring a critical goal in the last few minutes of play in back-to-back weeks.

My Top 5 Things to Do in Houston

by Sophie Schmidt

1. Hardy & Nance Studios – This nugget is an artists studio near Downtown’s Warehouse District, packed with working spaces for artists, including award-winning painters, jewelry designers, videographers and photographers. They host free themed art shows at least several weekends a month with Insomnia Gallery inside the building, with themes like cartoon anime, black light art, tiny art, etc. But you can kind of get to sneak around, explore, and visit different open artist studios, talk to them, check out their different styles. It’s a fun night out with friends, and you’ll find pop-up vendors and food trucks in front of the building. 

2. The entire EaDo area, expanding into the East End – It’s our stadium’s neighborhood, but there’s so much gold to mine in there. My favorite coffee shops include Koffeteria, Brass Tacks, EaDough Pastries & Provisions in EaDo and Xela Coffee Roasters in the East End. My go-to food place is Tiny Champions—the greens pizza and rigatoni pasta are highlights, but it’s all delicious. It’s also super cute outside on the patio, and the indoor space is softly lit and charming. A few blocks north, the East End Farmers Market on the Navigation Esplanade—every Sunday from 10am to 2pm—is a welcoming, rewarding reason to get out of the house and soak up the neighborhood, with relaxing things to do, vendors, fresh food and veggies, and more. Plus, it’s right next to El Tiempo—the fajitas are my go-to. Finally, Cidercade offers up old school retro arcade games on open play with a single entrance fee. It’s a fun and different way to exercise my competitive streak.

3. Houston Museum of Natural Science – It’s always fun to explore the museum’s halls. There is always something new to learn. I love the Hall of Paleontology, showing the spectrum of life from dinosaurs to the Ice Age to humans. It offers a perspective on life and the sheer scope of it. I’m a huge animal lover, so it probably scratches that itch subconsciously. The museum’s right at Hermann Park, hands down one of the best parks in Houston. Especially in great weather, it’s great to walk around by the water and explore. And It’s a great jumping off point for the entire Houston Museum District. Bonus points: the Museum of Natural Science is free on Tuesdays.

4. Houston Restaurant Weeks – Our food scene is unreal. You can find anything you crave and more. Two of my good friends and I take turns picking a new restaurant to try every three weeks. I love when Houston Restaurant Weeks rolls around every August with special, price-friendly multi-course menus. It motivates us to try new places and concepts, while supporting Houston Food Bank. My standout restaurants this year included B&B Butchers and Kazzan Ramen (where ramen is served like a steaming volcano). It’s a great way to get out and explore the food scene Houston’s notorious for… So many great options and for a great cause. I’m looking forward to Eat Drink HTX in February, which is from the Houston Restaurant Weeks team and focused on casual restaurants. 

5. True Anomaly Brewing Company – Also in EaDo, True Anomaly’s beer is fantastic and my favorite beer in Houston, specifically their Scout, Rocket Park, and Ben’s House IPA. It’s not just me though. Their beers are all highly rated, and they have recurring medal winners including their wilds and sours. I love their NASA origin story. The four founders met while working at NASA in and after college and that vibe carries over into the brewery in a warm, comfortable way. Both my pups get very excited when we roll up. It’s a fun and friendly place to be. On Tuesday nights they host a fun, very challenging trivia night. For a couple of years a group of players from our team went and played regularly. It’s a fun bonding event, and the trivia night is going even stronger today.

About Sophie Schmidt

A native Canadian who grew up outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Sophie Schmidt played for Canada’s national women’s soccer team from 2005 until retiring from international football in 2023. She won her Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo games, after bronze wins in both Rio de Janeiro 2016 and London 2012.

Joining the Houston Dash in 2019, the club has since credited her as being an anchor and driving force for the team, regularly completing key plays and assists on the pitch and off. She’s currently signed to the team through at least the upcoming 2026 season.

Sophie’s also a big fan of Houston itself, sharing praise about the green spaces she explores with her dogs and for Houston’s population and diversity—”It’s a massive melting pot and I love it.”

Plus she shared some surprising, and perhaps even locally controversial, praise. 

“I do like the heat,” she volunteered. “I enjoy the weather a lot. Sometimes the dead of summer is extra spicy.”

You can find Sophie on Instagram @SophieSchmidt13

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Don’t Miss Out on Tomorrow’s Fun!

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Don’t Miss Out on Tomorrow’s Fun!