April Dawn Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former

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 and coach. She was among the first players on 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 ...

, and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the United States team which won the first ever FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991. She finished her international playing career with 46

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 Java ...

and 35 goals. Heinrich coached the USA women's team from 2000 to 2004, under her tenure team USA finished third in

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's association football, women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September ...

, won silver medal at Sydney 2000, and gold medal at Athens 2004 Olympics. In 1998 she became the first female player inducted into the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

. In yJanuary 2011, Heinrichs was appointed Technical Director for women's soccer by

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

Collegiate record

Heinrichs is a 1986 graduate of the UNC where she was named National Player of the Year twice and earned All-American First team honors three times.

Club career

After playing in the Mundialito with the United States national team, Heinrichs spent a short period playing professional soccer in the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

with Juventus and then

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

Women's national team record

April Heinrichs played for

from 1986 through 1991, appeared in 46 matches and scored 35 goals, including fours goals at the

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

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, where

Heinrichs formed a forward line dubbed the " triple-edged sword" with Carin Jennings and Michelle Akers-Stahl. Heinrichs remains among the all-time leaders in goals scored for the USA.

Matches and goals scored at World Cup

April Heinrichs competed in the first

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, and finished with her team as World Champions; played in five matches and scored four goals.

College head coach

She had an 8–6–1 record as head coach at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1990. Heinrichs guided

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

to a 56–40–7 record from 1991 to 1995, earning Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1995 after leading the Terps to their first NCAA Tournament berth. She was head coach from 1996 to 2000 at

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, where she recorded a 52–27–7 mark in leading the Cavaliers to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She led Virginia to a 13–10 record, including a trip to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 1999 season.

Coaching U.S. Women's National Team

She joined the

as an assistant coach in 1995. She became the team's head coach in 2000. During her tenure, Heinrichs was often criticized for failing to lead the previously unstoppable national squad to a major international championship, but she coached the team to victory at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Heinrichs led the United States to wins in international tournaments such as the Algarve Cup, Four Nations Cup, Gold Cup and a much celebrated return to the podium by winning Gold in Athens. Heinrichs also led her team to the silver medal in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and the bronze medal in the 2003 Women's World Cup. Heinrichs' five years at the helm led to an 87–17–20 record. She resigned as coach on February 15, 2005, and became a consultant for U.S. Soccer.

Olympic Committee

She was named head coach for women's soccer at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, on December 19, 2005, and later resigned to accept a position with the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Technical Director

In January 2011, April Heinrichs was hired by

as Technical Director for women's soccer. The appointment, along with Jill Ellis as development director, marks the first time U.S. Soccer had appointed full-time positions to oversee the women's youth national teams program. Besides focusing on technical directions of women's soccer, Heinrichs will oversee the under-20 and under-18 women's youth teams.

References

;Match reports

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame profileUCI Women's Soccer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrichs, April 1964 births Living people 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup managers American women's soccer coaches FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players National Soccer Hall of Fame members North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Serie A (women's football) players United States women's international soccer players United States women's national soccer team managers William & Mary Tribe women's soccer coaches American women's soccer players Women's association football forwards Virginia Cavaliers women's soccer coaches Princeton Tigers women's soccer coaches Maryland Terrapins women's soccer coaches UC Irvine Anteaters women's soccer coaches Female association football managers Olympic coaches for the United States ASDF Juventus Torino players Expatriate women's footballers in Italy American expatriate sportspeople in Italy A.C.F. Prato players United States women's national soccer team non-playing staff 20th-century American sportswomen