Carin Leslie Jennings-Gabarra (; born January 9, 1965) is an American retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

forward. She earned 117

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

with 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 the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

from 1987 to 1996 and was awarded the Golden Ball Award as the best player at the

1991 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It took place in Guangdong, China from 16 to 30 November 1991. FIFA, football's international gove ...

. In 2000, she was inducted into the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors Association football, soccer ...

. She currently coaches women's soccer at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

Early life and education

While born in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a city in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was the state's 20th most-populous municipality in 2010, after having been the state's 14th most-po ...

, Jennings-Gabarra grew up in

Rancho Palos Verdes, California Rancho Palos Verdes ( Spanish for "Green Sticks Ranch") is a coastal city located in Los Angeles County, California atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, neighboring other cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including Palos Verdes Esta ...

where she attended Palos Verdes High School from 1980 to 1983. During her four seasons playing high school soccer, she scored 226 goals and was a four-time High School All-American and a three-time California

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a partic ...

. After high school, Jennings-Gabarra attended the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

where she played on the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as ''UC Santa Barbara'' or ''UCSB'', the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I ...

women's soccer team from 1983 through 1986. In 1984, Jennings-Gabarra set the NCAA Division I women's soccer single-season records for goals (34), goals per game (1.55), points (80), and points per game (3.64). She finished her college career holding numerous NCAA Division I women's soccer records including 102 goals scored, 1.29 goals per game, 60 assists, 0.76 assists per game, 264 points, and 3.34 points per game. She was named as a second-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n in 1984 and 1985 and a third-team All-American in 1987.
She graduated from UCSB in 1987 with a

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...

in business management. Gabarra was named the school’s Athlete of the Decade and in 1991 the university inducted Gabarra into its Hall of Fame.
/sup> In 2000, '' Soccer America Magazine, Soccer America'' selected Jennings-Gabarra to its College Team of the Century.

Playing career

Club

Jennings-Gabarra played with The Los Angeles Blues (now th
Southern California Blues
and later with Southern California Ajax of

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific coast south of El Segundo, west of Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north of Hermosa Beach. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3 ...

. In 1992 and 1993, Ajax won the USASA National Amateur Cup.
/sup> Jennings and Defender (association football), defender

Joy Biefeld-Fawcett Joy Lynn Fawcett (; February 8, 1968) is a retired American professional soccer player. She earned 241 caps with the United States women's national soccer team (WNT) and retired from the WNT in 2004 as the highest scoring defender for the U.S. W ...

both were members of the Manhattan Beach club women's soccer team

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s and routinely played at

Columbia Park Columbia Park or Columbia Avenue Grounds was a baseball park in Philadelphia. It was built in 1901 as the first home of the Philadelphia Athletics, who played there for eight seasons, including two games of the 1905 World Series. Columbia Park ...

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific O ...

. In 1991, Ajax won the U.S. women's amateur championship. In 1993,

Los Angeles United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pr ...

drafted Jennings-Gabarra.

International

Jennings-Gabarra’s fame rests on her achievements with the

. During her ten-year career, spanning 1987 to 1996, she earned 117

and scored 53 goals.

1991 World Cup

During the early 1990s, Jennings-Gabarra was part of the national team's "

Triple-Edged Sword The Triple-Edged Sword was the forward line of the victorious United States women's national soccer team at the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup. The line-up in coach Anson Dorrance's 4–3–3 formation consisted of center forward Michelle Akers (the ...

". The term, coined by the Chinese media during the

, included two other prolific scorers,

April Heinrichs April Dawn Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former soccer player and coach. She was among the first players on the United States women's national soccer team, and was captain of the United States team which won the first ever FI ...

and Michelle Akers. Of those three players, Akers scored ten goals at the World Cup to claim the Golden Boot, while Jennings-Gabarra added six as the tournament's second leading scorer.
/sup> Jennings helped the U.S. national team win the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup, first women's World Cup. She was also selected as the Golden Ball Award winner as the tournament’s top player.

1995 World Cup

In 1995, Jennings-Gabarra and her team mates came up short in the

1995 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was held in Sweden and won by Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament featured 12 women's national teams from si ...

, losing to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

in the semifinals. Gabarra with her team finished third in Sweden 1995, with a 2–0 win over China in the third-place playoff match.

1996 Olympics

In 1996, the U.S. won the first women’s Olympic soccer tournament. Following the tournament, she retired from playing international soccer.

Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments

Carin Jennings-Gabarra competed in Atlanta 1996 Olympics, China 1991 and Sweden 1995

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing bod ...

tournaments; played 16 matches and scored 6 goals at those 3 global tournaments. Jennings-Gabarra with her teams won a gold medal at Atlanta, finished first at China 1991 and third at Sweden 1995.

International goals

Playing style

Jennings-Gabarra is renowned for her remarkable ball control, imagination,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills and feints on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, as well as her ability to create chances out of nothing. Her distinctive

gait Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. ...

earned her the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

s "Crazy Legs" and "

Gumby ''Gumby'' is an American clay animation franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. Gumby stars in two television series, the feature-length '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other media. He im ...

". Also an effective goalscorer, she struck a 23-minute

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...

against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

to put the United States 3–0 ahead in the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup semi-final. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' reported that "Carin Jennings, the ponytailed winger from Palos Verdes, tore the Germans to shreds". In 1999 Assistant coach

Lauren Gregg Lauren Gregg (born July 20, 1960) is an American soccer coach and retired soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. She made one appearance for the United States women's national soccer team in 1986. She was the first-ever female assi ...

hailed Jennings-Gabarra's performance against Germany as the single greatest ever by an American player. Jennings-Gabarra epitomizes the speed, fitness, and mental strength that coach Anson Dorrance demanded of his players. "Before every game, Anson would challenge us, asking us which of us was going to make the difference. I always wanted to be that player." Teammates saw Jennings-Gabarra as setting the standard for the group.

Coaching career

Gabarra began coaching following her graduation from UCSB in 1987. That year,

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

, located in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...

hired her as its women’s soccer coach. After one season, she moved to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where she was an assistant coach. In 1993, the

in Annapolis Maryland, hired Gabarra as its women’s soccer coach. At the time the women’s team competed at the club level. She developed it into a competitive Division I NCAA team. In 2000, Gabarra was inducted into the

. In 2003, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Personal life

In 1992, Gabarra married U.S. men’s national team player

Jim Gabarra James Michael Gabarra (born September 22, 1959) is an American retired soccer forward who coached the Washington Spirit National Women's Soccer League team, and previously coached Sky Blue FC and the Washington Freedom women's soccer teams. He p ...

. They have two daughters and one son. Gabarra is a member of the U.S. Soccer Athlete Advisory Council, the U.S. Olympic Committee Athlete Advisory Council and the Maryland Physical Fitness Council.

Honors

World Cup Winner * 1991 Olympic Gold Medal * 1996 US National Amateur Cup * 1992, 1993 California Prep MVP * 1981, 1982, 1983 High School All American * 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 NCAA Division I All American * 1984, 1985, 1986 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball * 1991 US Soccer Athlete of the Year * 1987, 1992 U.S. Olympic Player of the Year * 1987, 1992 National Soccer Medal of Honor * 2001 Hall of Fame *

* U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame * American Youth Soccer Organization Hall of Fame

References

;Match Reports

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings-gabarra, Carin Living people 1965 births American women's soccer coaches Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics National Soccer Hall of Fame members Harvard Crimson women's soccer coaches Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Sportspeople from East Orange, New Jersey United States women's international soccer players FIFA Century Club 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's soccer players FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players American women's soccer players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Women's association football forwards Navy Midshipmen women's soccer coaches Ajax America Women players