Christiane de Araújo Lessa (born 6 September 1982) is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. She was the head coach of American

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

team

Prairie View A&M Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

Career

Born in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

but raised in

Niterói Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Lessa represented

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

and

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

's youth setup before playing for Team Chicago Brasil. She subsequently turned down a call up from the under-17 national team in order to move to the United States and play college football. In 2002, Lessa was in the roster of

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

's Lady Bulldogs which qualified for the

NAIA Women's Soccer Championship The NAIA women's soccer championship is the annual tournament to determine the national champions of NAIA women's collegiate soccer in the United States and Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories ...

for the first time ever. She subsequently played for St. Thomas University's STU Bobcats before moving to Iceland with

Haukar Knattspyrnufélagið Haukar (, ) is an Icelandic multi-sport club from Hafnarfjörður with divisions in Association football, Football, Haukar Handball, Handball, Basketball, Haukar RC, Rugby union, Karate, Skiing & Chess. Club history The clu ...

in 2005. On 28 June 2006, Lessa joined

Fylkir Íþróttafélagið Fylkir (, ) is a multi-sport club in Árbær, in the eastern part of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. It features departments in football, handball, volleyball, gymnastics and karate. Kit The Fylkir official home kit is ...

still in Iceland. She returned to the US in 2007 with Plantation FC, being later a part of Miami Kickers' squad before leaving in 2010. Back in 2008, Lessa helped in the creation of the women's team of

Florida Memorial University Florida Memorial University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black college in Miami Gardens, Florida. Founded as the Florida Baptist Institute, today it claims a focus on broader Christ ...

Florida Memorial Lions The Florida Memorial Lions are the athletic teams that represent Florida Memorial University, located in Miami Gardens, Florida, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily comp ...

, being their manager until 2011. In 2012, she was named head coach of the

Iowa Central Community College Iowa Central Community College is a public community college in Fort Dodge, Iowa, with satellite campuses in Webster City and Storm Lake. History The college was organized in 1966 on the foundation of three area junior colleges which had been ...

's women's soccer programme. On 21 January 2016, Lessa was appointed the head coach of

Young Harris College Young Harris College is a Private college, private Methodist-affiliated Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Young Harris, Georgia, United States. History Origins The school was founded in 1886 by Artemas Le ...

Young Harris Mountain Lions The Young Harris Mountain Lions are the athletic teams that represent Young Harris College, located in Young Harris, Georgia, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily c ...

. On 20 October of the following year she took over

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

's Academy, before moving back to Iceland as the coach of

Avaldsnes Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy (island), Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund (town), Hauge ...

. In 2019, after a short period as a head coach of

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Jinan, Shandong, that competes in . Shandong Taishan plays its home matches at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, located within Lixia District. Their c ...

's youth sides, Lessa joined Denise Reddy's staff at

Sky Blue Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. Typically it is a shade of cyan or light teal, though some iterations are closer to light Azure (color), azure or light blue. The term (as "sky blew") is atte ...

. She later became the first woman on a men's team's squad in the United States, after being named Roberto Neves' assistant at

Atlanta SC Atlanta Soccer Club was an American soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2007 as Atlanta FC, it became the reserve team of the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2011, and licensed the name of the first team when it folded in 2016. On January ...

. In 2020, Lessa returned to Brazil to take over Foz Cataratas, but left the club amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 25 January 2021, she was named in charge of

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

. On 9 June 2021, Lessa resigned from Santos despite having seven wins in 13 matches. In July 2022, Lessa and five other women developed the idea for a women's soccer club based on cultivating a positive experience for their players, staff, fans, and partners, founding

Austin Rise FC Austin Rise FC is an American semi-professional women's soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club was established in 2022 and is fully women-owned. They compete in the Women's Premier Soccer League as a member of the Texas Triangle Conference ...

. Austin Rise FC started play in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

in 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lessa, Christiane 1982 births Footballers from Brasília Living people Brazilian women's footballers Brazilian football managers Female association football managers Brazilian expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland Santos FC (women) managers Women's association football midfielders Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Brazilian expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Expatriate football managers in Iceland Expatriate football managers in China Florida Memorial Lions Iowa Central Tritons women's soccer coaches Young Harris Mountain Lions women's soccer coaches Union College (Kentucky) alumni St. Thomas University (Florida) alumni Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers soccer coaches Gotham FC head coaches 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen