Chris Little is a Scottish-born

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side Colorado Rapids. He was previously head coach of Tacoma Defiance, the second-division affiliate of

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

. He played professionally for the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL Second Division and previously coached various amateur and college teams in North Carolina and Kentucky.

College career

Little was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and raised in the English city of

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

. He played for the AFC Bournemouth Academy, but left at the age of 18 to pursue a college scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. During his four years at UNC Pembroke, he played 58 matches for the Braves as a midfielder and recorded 29 goals and 23 assists. Little captained the Braves for two seasons and was inducted into the university's Athletic Hall Of Fame in 2012. He graduated from UNC Pembroke in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in History and in 2002 with a master's degree in physical education.

Club career

Little was signed to a professional contract with the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL Second Division in 2000 and became a starting midfielder and forward.

Coaching career

Little returned to UNC Pembroke in 2001 as an assistant coach for two years. He was named the head coach of Cumberland College in 2003 and lead the team to a 20th-place rank in the 2004 NAIA national poll and to the final of the NAIA Region XI tournament. Little returned to North Carolina to manage various youth football organisations in the Greensboro area before accepting a role as assistant coach for the Carolina Dynamo from 2008 to 2009. Little was named an assistant coach at Elon University in 2010 and was promoted to head coach in 2014 following the departure of Darren Powell. During his tenure at Elon, the team won four conference championships and qualified for three editions of the NCAA Tournament. Little also returned to the Carolina Dynamo as head coach in 2013. In 2017, Little joined

as an academy coach and trainer. He managed several academy teams to national championships and was named the 2018 U-16/17 U.S. Development Academy West Division Coach of the Year. Little received his Elite Formation Coaching License from

in 2018 and spent time with the training staff of

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

under the program. On 23 January 2019 the Sounders announced that Little would take over as head coach of the Tacoma Defiance reserves team while retaining his role as the Sounders FC Academy Director of Coaching. On 26 February 2021, Little left Tacoma to join Colorado Rapids as an assistant coach.

Personal life

Little is married to Kara-Lyn, a former volleyball player at UNC Pembroke, and has two children.

Honors

Coach

NC Youth Association *ODP National Tournament: 2006 (shared), 2007 US Academy (U16) * US Soccer National Youth Championships: 2009 Elon Phoenix * SoCon Championship: 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

(as assistant) * SoCon Championship Regular Season:

(as assistant) * CAA Championship Regular Season:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

(shared)

Individual

* UNCP Most Outstanding Player: 2000 * UNCP Athletics Hall of Fame: 2012 Inductee * NSCAA South Region Assistant Coach of the Year: 2012 * NSCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year: 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Chris Living people Seattle Sounders FC non-playing staff Scottish footballers University of North Carolina at Pembroke alumni USL Championship coaches Association football midfielders Year of birth missing (living people) Scottish football managers 1970s births Footballers from Edinburgh UNC Pembroke Braves men's soccer coaches Wilmington Hammerheads FC players USL Second Division players Scottish expatriate football managers Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Cumberlands Patriots coaches North Carolina Fusion U23 USL League Two coaches Elon Phoenix men's soccer coaches Tacoma Defiance coaches Colorado Rapids non-playing staff