Denise Helen Reddy (born September 14, 1970) is an American professional

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 ...

coach and former player who is currently an assistant head coach for 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 ...

. Reddy holds a UEFA Pro License and previously coached

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

of the

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 ...

. She has also served as an assistant coach to Jim Gabarra at

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 as head coach of

Linköpings FC Linköpings may refer to: *Linköpings ASS, Linköpings Allmänna Simsällskap is a Swedish swim team *Linköpings FC, an association football club *Linköpings FF, premier men's football team *Linköpings HC, Linköpings Hockey Club See also< ...

and

Vittsjö GIK Vittsjö Gymnastik- och Idrottsklubb is a association football, football club from Vittsjö, Sweden. They play in the highest level of women's football leagues in Sweden, the Damallsvenskan. Vittsjö GIK play their home games at Vittsjö IP in Vi ...

in Sweden, B.93/HIK/Skjold in Denmark, and Jersey Sky Blue of 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 ...

. She played four years as a starter at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and 11 years as a professional in Sweden. Reddy is from

Hazlet, New Jersey Hazlet is a township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is located near the Raritan Bay within the Raritan Valley region. It is located in the New York Metropolitan Area and is a bedroom community of New York C ...

and graduated from

Raritan High School Raritan High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hazlet Township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hazl ...

Playing career

Rutgers University, 1988–1991

Reddy was a four-year starter for the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

, from 1988 to 1991. During that span, the Scarlet Knights won two Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship titles, and Reddy was named to the NSCAA All-America second team in 1991. During her collegiate career, she scored 5 goals and 9 assists in 81 appearances. Reddy also played for the Rutgers women's basketball team from 1990 to 1993, including an appearance in the 1993 Atlantic 10 Championship. She received her bachelor's degree in exercise science and communications.

Sweden, 1995–2005

After college, Reddy joined Swedish side

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a women's professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football cl ...

in 1995, then moved to Malmö DFF in 1996, where she played for 10 years. For seven of those seasons, from 1999 to 2005, Reddy was the team's captain. During Reddy's time on the team, Malmö DFF won the 1997 Swedish Cup, reached the semifinals of the

2003–04 UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Cup 2003–04 was the third edition of the UEFA Women's Cup. It was convincingly won by reigning champions Umeå IK of Sweden in a two-legged final against Frankfurt of Germany. Both sides were aiming for their second win in the ...

, and appeared in the 2005 Mediterranean International Cup championship. During her career at Malmö DFF, she scored 35 goals in 336 appearances.

Coaching career

Youth and non-professional, 1989–2005

Reddy coached in the New Jersey Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 1989 to 1994, and served as an assistant coach at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1994. During her professional playing career, Reddy also coached or was an assistant trainer at Borger (1996–2001) and Procivitas (2004–2005) high school academies in Sweden.

New Jersey Wildcats, 2006–2007

Charlie Naimo, then head coach of holding

champions

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women's soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League (1995–2015), W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and C ...

, hired Reddy as an assistant in April 2006, following her retirement as a professional player.

Jersey Sky Blue, 2007–2008

After the season, she was hired as the head coach of the W-League's Jersey Sky Blue, where she served until 2008. Jersey Sky Blue was chaired by Thomas Hofstetter, who would go on to form

in 2009, and Reddy is credited as one of the club's founders and instrumental in the establishment of the Sky Blue Soccer School.

Chicago Red Stars, 2008–2010

Reddy joined the coaching staff of the

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 ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

in 2008 as an assistant, where she served until 2010.

Linköpings FC, 2011–2012

Reddy was hired by

of the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

in 2011 as an assistant, a year in which Linköpings reached the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

quarterfinals. She became a co-head coach with Christian Anderson in 2012.

B.93/HIK/Skjold, 2012–2014

Reddy coached Danish side B.93/HIK/Skjold from 2012 to 2014.

Vittsjö GIK, 2015–2016

Reddy joined Swedish club

as head coach in January 2015, and remained with the team into 2016.

Washington Spirit, 2016–2017

In the

, former Sky Blue FC head coach Jim Gabarra took over as head coach of the

after the departure of

Mark Parsons Mark Richard David Parsons (born 8 August 1986) is an English football manager who is the former head coach of American club Washington Spirit. He previously managed top-level teams including the Netherlands women's national team, the Portland ...

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

. Gabarra hired Reddy as a defensive assistant coach, where she served until November 2017. Reddy was also the Spirit's Maryland Developmental Academy director.

Sky Blue FC, 2017–2019

On November 15, 2017, Sky Blue FC named Reddy as their new head coach, succeeding

Christy Holly Christy Holly (born 21 December 1984) is a Northern Irish former footballer and coach. From 12 August 2020 to 31 August 2021, he was the head coach of Racing Louisville in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He previously coached NWSL cl ...

, who resigned during the

2017 National Women's Soccer League season The 2017 National Women's Soccer League season was the fifth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2 ...

. Reddy was briefly the only woman as a head coach in the NWSL, between the departure of

Laura Harvey Laura Kate Harvey (born 15 May 1980) is an English football manager and former player who currently manages Seattle Reign FC of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She holds USSF "A" and UEFA "A" coaching licenses. Harvey previo ...

from

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 ...

at the start of November 2017 to November 27, when

was hired to manage

Utah Royals FC The Utah Royals (formerly Utah Royals FC) are an American professional soccer team based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion team, ...

and

Vera Pauw Vera Pauw (; born 18 January 1963) is a Dutch Women's association football, football coach and former player who is the manager of the United Arab Emirates women's national football team, United Arab Emirates women's national team. She has manage ...

was named head coach of 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 ...

. On June 28, 2019, Reddy was relieved of her head coaching duties.

Chelsea, 2020–2024

Reddy joined Chelsea as assistant coach on August 19, 2020.

United States women, 2024–present

Reddy joined

as assistant coach on May 24, 2024.

References

External links

Washington Spirit assistant coach profile

Linköpings FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Denise 1970 births Living people National Women's Soccer League head coaches Gotham FC head coaches People from Hazlet, New Jersey Raritan High School alumni Soccer players from Monmouth County, New Jersey American women's soccer coaches American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Women's association football defenders Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's soccer players Damallsvenskan players American women's soccer players FC Rosengård players Washington Spirit non-playing staff American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate association football managers Association football coaches United States women's national soccer team non-playing staff