Christine Marie Nairn (born September 25, 1990) is an American retired

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 from

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. She previously played for the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

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� ...

, and

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

in the United States

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL) and had regular loan spells with

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

in the Australian W-League. She represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at senior level and numerous youth levels. In 2008, she helped the under-20 national team win gold at the

2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 4th edition of the tournament. It was held in Chile between 19 November and 7 December 2008. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in the final competition, i ...

in Chile. Nairn retired from professional soccer on September 18, 2021, to pursue a career as a professional

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

with the

Houston Fire Department City of Houston Fire Department (HFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States. HFD is responsible for preserving life a ...

Early life

Born in

to parents Tommy and Danamarie Nairn, Christine attended

Archbishop Spalding High School Archbishop Spalding High School is a private, Catholic co-educational high school located in Severn, Maryland, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Most of its students live in Annapolis, Crownsville, Arnold, Pas ...

Severn, Maryland Severn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Severn is 57,118, a 22.6% increase from 44,231 in 2010. The zip code is 21144. Geography Severn is l ...

where she was all-time leader in assists, goals and points from 2004 to 2007 and was a four-time Parade All-American. Besides excelling in soccer, she played four years of varsity basketball in high school. She was a National Honor Society member and graduated with Dean's List honors. Nairn was a three-time All-State selection, an

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

/adidas All-American from 2005 to 2008, and the Gatorade Maryland State Player of the Year from 2005 to 2007. She was named Player of the Year by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and was an NSCAA/adidas All-South Region selection from 2005 to 2007. Nairn started playing soccer when she was just four years old competing against her older brothers, Kevin and TJ, in her back yard. After her club coach, Pat Noel, encouraged her to go to an

Olympic Development Program The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer, abbreviated USYS) is the largest youth affiliate and member of the United States Soccer Federation, the governing body for soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 S ...

(ODP) tryout at age nine, she was accepted in the program. Nairn credits the Maryland ODP program as a very important contributor for her national recognition achievements. Nairn played club soccer with the Freestate Shooters U-18 team, which won the WAGS Championship and Maryland State Cup in 2004 and the U.S. Club Soccer Championship in 2007. She was also a four-year captain for the Region I Olympic Development Program (ODP) team and won the 2006 Regional ODP National Championship. In January 2008, during her senior year in high school, Nairn was called up to 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 the youngest member to attend training camp. The same year, Soccer Buzz named her the number three recruit in the country.

Penn State, 2009–2012

Nairn attended

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

from 2009 to 2012 and majored in

Communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

s. During her freshman year, she started in all but two games as the team's central midfielder. She scored seven goals and led the team in assists at ten. Nairn recorded three assists in a 4–0 win over then-number 22

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

on November 1 setting a new freshman record and second most in a game. She tallied a point in 10 of 12 games from September 13 to November 1. Nairn earned unanimous All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

First Team, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team honors and was named TopDrawerSoccer.com Rookie of the Year. She was twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on October 5 and November 2 and was named to the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

Watch List. As a sophomore, Nairn scored 7 goals and provided 6 assists for 20 points. She was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and

All-Great Lakes First Team. She started in all 21 games in central midfield leading the team in shots at 73. She scored the second-fastest goal in Penn State history, a strike 63 seconds into the match at the University of Connecticut on September 5. Nairn notched penalty-kick goals in games against the University of Portland, Michigan State University, and Northwestern University. She was named team

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

and to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) First-Team All-Star squad. During her junior year with the Nittany Lions, Nairn started in 24 of 25 matches in attacking midfield. She tallied three goals and 13 assists for 19 points, earning NSCAA All-American Second Team honors for a second straight year. She garnered All-Big Ten and NSCAA All-Great Lake First Team honors for a third straight year. She tallied assists at Pittsburgh, UCF, and Virginia, capping a four-game point streak and assisted game-winners vs. Ohio State and Michigan State. Nairn provided the assist on Penn State's lone goal in the Big Ten Final against Illinois and scored a dramatic 85th-minute game-winner against Army in the NCAA First Round. Nairn also tallied two assists in a 4–1 victory over number 12 Marquette in the NCAA Second Round. As a senior in 2012, Nairn earned her first ever Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and first team NSCAA All-American honor. She finished her career with the second highest number of all-time assists in program history and doubled her career goal total (second highest in the conference) with 17 goals. She was one of two players in the 2012 College Cup with double-digit goals and assists. Nairn scored an exciting

golden goal The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the ...

against Florida State in the national semifinals. In 2013, Nairn was one of three finalists for the

coming in second to University of North Carolina midfielder and future Washington Spirit teammate,

Crystal Dunn Crystal Alyssia Soubrier (; born July 3, 1992) is an American professional soccer player for Première Ligue club Paris Saint-Germain and the United States national team. A versatile player, she primarily plays as an attacking midfielder or ...

Club career

W-League: Washington Freedom Futures and DC United Women, 2010–11

In 2010, Nairn played for the Washington Freedom Futures in the W-League. In 2011, Nairn signed with D.C. United Women in the W-League. She made four appearances, scoring three goals and providing one assist notching seven points for the season. She scored twice in a game against the

New York Magic New York Magic is an American women's soccer team, founded in 1997. The team was an original member of United Women's Soccer from 2016-2017. They played in the USL W-League from 1997 until the league folded after the 2015 season. The team play ...

leading the team to its first win in franchise history.

ASA Chesapeake Charge, 2012

In 2012, she played for the NCAA-compliant semi-professional club, ASA Chesapeake Charge, in

WPSL Elite The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in profes ...

. She played in three games and scored one goal.

Seattle Reign FC, 2013, 2017

On January 18, 2013, Nairn was drafted to the

as the seventh pick (first round) of the 2013 NWSL Draft. On her signing, Nairn said, "It's a great opportunity, like I said before, to represent Seattle and where I've come from – Penn State, and all the teams I played for before. To represent them on a professional stage is a dream come true. I'm excited to get to work." Nairn scored the first regular season goal for the Reign during the team's first league match against

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

on April 14, 2013, with a diving header on a cross from forward,

Liz Bogus Elizabeth Ely Bogus (born February 24, 1984) is an American soccer coach and retired player who played as a midfielder and forward. She played semi-professionally with Chicago Cobras, Arizona Heatwave, Ajax America Women, Mile High Edge, Pali ...

. Nairn led the team in assists and was a leading-scorer. She finished the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

with five assists and three goals. Nairn returned to the Reign for the 2017 NWSL season. She appeared in all 23 matches, having 21 stars.

Washington Spirit, 2014–2016

On November 20, 2013, the Seattle Reign traded Nairn to the

for the discovery rights to Scottish international

Kim Little Kim Alison Little (born 29 June 1990) is a Scottish professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal of the English Women's Super League. Before her retirement from international ...

. In 2014, she scored six goals and took 52 out of 76 corner kicks for the Spirit. In 2015, Nairn scored five goals and recorded two assists. In her third year with the team, the midfielder was voted Spirit MVP for her contributions to the first ever NWSL Championship appearance for the Spirit. She played every match for the Spirit in 2016, starting 18 in the regular season and both post season matches, and scored three goals. Her goal against the

on August 18 earned her the NWSL Goal of the Week honors in Week 16. Nairn's most memorable assist of the season came in the semifinal on Francisca Ordega's game-winning goal to send the Spirit to the NWSL Championship.

Melbourne Victory, 2014–2019

In September 2014, Nairn went on loan to the

for the 2014 W-League season. She returned for the 2015-16 season and 2016-17 season. After taking a season off she returned to the Victory for her fourth loan spell with the club in the 2018-19 W-League season. She won the W-League Premiership in 2018–19. She subsequently received the

Julie Dolan Medal The Julie Dolan Medal is awarded annually to the player voted to be the best player in the highest women's soccer league in Australia. The medal has been presented to players in the W-League (retitled A-League Women) and previously in the Women's ...

, becoming the first international player to receive Australia's W-League player of the year award.

Orlando Pride, 2018–2019

Nairn joined the

alongside Carson Pickett, in a deal that sent

Steph Catley Stephanie-Elise Catley (born 26 January 1994) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the Australia national team. She can play in many positions in defence, such as left- ...

to Seattle. During her first season with the Pride she made 20 appearances, of which 13 were starts. She finished the season tied second in assists alongside Marta. She also won the NWSL goal of the week in Week 7 of the season. Her contract option for the 2019 season was exercised.

Houston Dash, 2019–2021

On February 26, 2019, Orlando Pride traded Nairn to the

for exchange for an international slot and draft picks. On October 12, 2019, she became the first NWSL player to make 150 league appearances. She retired from professional soccer on September 18, 2021, after a friendly match against

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

to become a firefighter with the

International career

Nairn played for the United States U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-20 teams from 2004 to 2010. She played in all six games for the team that won the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. She has played twice for the

, both against Canada during summer of 2009, debuting on 25 May in Toronto in a 4–0 win, then scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 victory on July 22 in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

International goals

Personal life

In 2017, Nairn came out as gay on her personal blog, "Finding my Euphoria". In her post "What Even is Normal" she stated: Nairn married

and

goalkeeper Jane Campbell in December 2023.

Honors

Melbourne Victory * W-League Premiership: 2018–19 Houston Dash *

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2025) cup holder is the Washington Spirit, who ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

United States U20 *

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship is an association football competition for women's national under-20 teams in the North America, Central America and Caribbean region. It serves as the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 Women's ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Individual *

: 2018–19

References

External links

* *
Seattle Reign FC player profile

Washington Spirit player profile

Melbourne Victory player profile

Penn State player profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nairn, Christine 1990 births Living people LGBTQ people from Maryland People from Arnold, Maryland People from Severn, Maryland Sportspeople from Annapolis, Maryland Soccer players from Bowie, Maryland American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players United States women's youth international soccer players American LGBTQ soccer players American lesbian sportswomen 21st-century American LGBTQ people D.C. United Women players Houston Dash players Melbourne Victory FC (women) players National Women's Soccer League players Seattle Reign FC draft picks Seattle Reign FC players Orlando Pride players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Washington Spirit players Women's association football midfielders Women's Premier Soccer League Elite players 21st-century American sportswomen