Danielle Victoria Slaton (born June 10, 1980) is an American retired

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. She is currently a soccer analyst for

MLS Season Pass MLS Season Pass is a soccer streaming service operated by Apple Inc. which includes live matches from Major League Soccer (MLS). The package was launched in the 2023 Major League Soccer season as part of a new 10-year media rights agreement be ...

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

and the

Pac-12 Network The Pac-12 Network (P12N), sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks, was an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities were headquartere ...

. A five-year member of the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

from 2000-2005, Slaton also played for the

Carolina Courage Carolina Courage was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific SAS Stadium in Cary, North Carolina i ...

in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) and was named the league's Defender of the Year. She went on to play for the French club

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

where she was a starting defender on the team in the

Division 1 Féminine Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...

. In 2017 she was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Slaton was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. She attended

Presentation High School Presentation High School is a private, Catholic, college preparatory school for girls established in 1962. It is owned and run by the Sisters of the Presentation, and operates within the Diocese of San Jose in California. The school is located ...

and led the soccer team to three Central Coast Section Championship games. She was named first team All-Santa Teresa Athletic League and first team All-CCS all four years. She was honored as the San Jose Mercury News Freshman and Sophomore of the Year following the 1995 and 1996 seasons. She was awarded a scholarship from the 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley and graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. Slaton played club soccer for the Central Valley Mercury coached by Vicky Wagner and Phillippe Blin, former Santa Clara assistant and former head coach at San Jose State. She helped lead the Mercury to three consecutive national championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Santa Clara University

Slaton played for

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

, where she was a four-year starter, three-time first-team All-America defender and team captain for the

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the ...

from 1998-2001. During her senior year, she helped lead the Broncos to the 2001 NCAA Championship and was named the NCAA College Cup Defensive MVP. She was a four-time first team all-West Coast Conference selection, the 1998 WCC Freshman of the Year and 2001 Defender of the Year. Slaton graduated

having started 79-of-84 games, scoring 50 points on eight goals and 34 assists. She was named the 2001 National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) Scholar Athlete of the Year and graduated magna cum laude with a 3.74 GPA.

Playing career

Club career

In 2002, Slaton was the first overall draft pick by the

in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). She helped lead the team to the WUSA Championship and was named the league's Defender of the Year. In 2005, Slaton played for

in France where she was a starting defender on the French First Division team and a member of the runner-up French Cup Tournament team.

International

Slaton was member of the under-21 national team pool in 1999. She captained the under-16 team from 1996-1997. Slaton was a five-year member of the U.S. National Team from 2000-05 that won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and a member of the third place 2003 World Cup squad. Her first appearance with the

occurred on February 24, 1999, against Finland. She scored her first goal on January 13, 2000, against Australia. She was the youngest member of the 2000 Olympic Team and the only member with college eligibility remaining.

Coaching career

In 2005, Slaton served as an assistant coach at Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose, California where she helped lead the team to its first county tournament win in school history. She spent six months as assistant and head coach for the Capital Area Soccer in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2006, Slaton joined the coaching staff of

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

as assistant coach.

Broadcasting career

In 2010, Slaton joined the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

as a soccer analyst. In 2014, Slaton was named a sports analyst for

Fox Soccer Fox Soccer (formerly Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports World before that) was an American television specialty channel specializing in soccer, owned by 21st Century Fox, which operated from 1997 to 2013. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australian ...

for the

2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship The 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship, the ninth edition of the CONCACAF Women's Championship/Gold Cup/Women's World Cup qualifying tournament, was a women's soccer tournament that took place in the United States between October 15 and 26, 2014 ...

. She also served as analyst for Fox during the

2015 Algarve Cup The 2015 Algarve Cup was the 22nd edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place on 4–11 March. Format Because of the number of competitive teams this year, the format was changed ...

. In February 2015, Slaton joined the broadcasting team for "Chicago Fire Weekly" on ESPN Chicago and was the sideline analyst for the Fire on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. In March 2016, Slaton became an analyst for

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

home broadcasts on San Francisco-based regional sports networks Comcast SportsNet California and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (since renamed

NBC Sports California NBC Sports California (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS California) is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regio ...

and

NBC Sports Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquar ...

). Slaton was also a soccer analyst for the

. Slaton served as a match analyst for

for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

in France. She was a commentator for

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

in 2023.

Other work

In 2010, she traveled to Paraguay as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy hosted by the United States Embassy. Slaton conducted seven clinics in three days, coaching as many as 300 girls ranging from 9 to 16 years old, as well as the Paraguay Women's National Team. Slaton has been a member of the Athlete Council for U.S. Soccer. In 2012, after

Pia Sundhage Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. Currently, she is coaching Switzerland. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as the top scorer fo ...

's departure as head coach of the

, Slaton joined

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player, two-time Women's Football at the Summer Olympics, Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Haile ...

and

Sunil Gulati Sunil Gulati ( ; born July 30, 1959) is an American sports administrator who presided over the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) from 2006 to 2018. On April 19, 2013, he was elected to a four-year term on the FIFA Council. In March 2014, h ...

as a member of the search committee for Sundhage's successor. Slaton currently serves on the National Advisory Board for the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), and conducts live PCA workshops in the Bay Area for coaches, parents, and athletes of youth and high school sports programs. Slaton is also a member of the Board of Directors of th
Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI)

Personal life

Slaton lives in the Bay Area.

References

External links

WUSA player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaton, Danielle 1980 births Living people United States women's international soccer players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in soccer Santa Clara Broncos women's soccer players Soccer players from San Jose, California American women's soccer players Carolina Courage players Women's association football defenders Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Women association football commentators African-American soccer players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players American soccer commentators 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen Women's United Soccer Association players Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players Expatriate women's footballers in France American expatriate women's soccer players Première Ligue players Bay FC owners