Colette Helen Cunningham (formerly Landon; born July 1, 1971) 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 who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, making two appearances for the United States women's national team.

Career

In high school, Cunningham was a four-year varsity player for the Lake Braddock Bruins soccer team, which won the state championship in her senior year. She also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

during her high school career. In college, she played for the

Marymount Saints Marymount University is a private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington County, Virginia, United States. It was founded as Marymount College in 1950. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. It has approxima ...

in her freshman year of 1989, scoring 39 goals and registering 20 assists in 18 appearances. She holds the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

record for most points (goals and assists) in a season (98) and most points per game in a season (5.44). The following year she joined the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subd ...

, where she played until 1992 and was a letter-winner. She scored 42 goals and registed 22 assists during her three seasons with the Wolfpack. She was selected in the ACC All-Tournament team in 1991, as well as the All-ACC First Team in 1991 and 1992. Cunningham made her international debut for 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 ...

on August 14, 1992 in a friendly match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, which finished as a 1–3 loss. She earned her second and final cap two days later against the same opponent, which finished as a 2–4 loss. In 1994 Cunningham played for the

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

for the

Washington Warthogs The Washington Warthogs were a professional indoor soccer team in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games in the USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, an arena they shared with the Washington Bull ...

of the CISL. She recorded two assists in twelve regular season appearances and one postseason game, becoming the first woman to register a point in U.S. men's professional soccer. She played for the Maryland Pride in the

USL W-League USL W-League may refer to: * USL W League * USL W-League (1995–2015) The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the oppor ...

from 1997 to 1999, winning the 1996 championship. Following the season, she moved to Italy to play in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

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 ...

. In 1995, she moved to Sporting Sorrento Crems in

Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...

(near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

), where she played until 1998. She also played for the Maryland Pride in 1997 upon return to the U.S. for the off-season. In 1998, she returned to the United States to care for her ill father and continued playing for the Maryland Pride. She also played for the Soccer Academy United team which won three USASA National Women's Amateur titles. Cunningham also was an assistant coach for the

American Eagles The American Eagles are the athletics teams that represent the American University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. American is a member of the Patriot League in all sports except wrestling, where it is ...

in 1994. She was inducted into the Virginia–D.C. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2019.

Personal life

Cunningham gave birth to her son Kevin in 1996. In 1999, she began a career in law enforcement, and currently works as a patrol

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

for the

Loudoun County Sheriff's Office The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) is the primary law enforcement agency within Loudoun County, Virginia and is the largest Sheriff, Sheriff's Office in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency is currently headed by Sheriff ...

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County ...

. She was born with the surname Cunningham, and later took the

married name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the Surname, family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("bi ...

Landon, which she no longer uses.

Career statistics

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Colette 1971 births Living people American women's soccer players American women's soccer coaches American women's basketball players Basketball players from Virginia Law enforcement officials from Virginia United States women's international soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in Italy Women's association football forwards Marymount Saints women's soccer players NC State Wolfpack women's soccer players Washington Warthogs players SS Lazio Women 2015 players Continental Indoor Soccer League players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Serie A (women's football) players American Eagles women's soccer coaches American women police officers Soccer players from Loudoun County, Virginia Female players in men's indoor soccer