Esmeralda Negrón (born 15 January 1983) is an American-born Puerto Rican retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and current coach. She has been a member of the Puerto Rico women's national team. She was voted the second greatest

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

female athlete of the decade (2000–2010) for her time leading

women's soccer team.

Early life

A native of

Harrington Park, New Jersey Harrington Park is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,741, an increase of 77 (+1.7%) from the 2010 Uni ...

, Negrón attended Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan.

College career

Princeton made the NCAA tournament in all four seasons Negrón was on the team, advancing to the second round in her freshman season of 2001. During her days at Princeton, Negrón scored 47 goals as part of her 112 career points, both Princeton records for both the men's and women's programs. The unforgettable season of 2004 saw Negrón score 20 goals with 12 assists for a total of 52 points, all Princeton single-season records, leading the Tigers to the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship semifinals. She was a 2004 first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, a 2003 third-team

, a two-time

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

Player of the Year and a three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection. She won the von Kiensbusch Award her senior year as Princeton's top senior sportswoman. Her

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

career concluded with a record-breaking run to the NCAA

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

in 2004 with then freshman teammate

Diana Matheson Diana Beverly Matheson (born April 6, 1984) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played for the Canada national team from 2003 to 2020 and multiple professional women's teams over the course of her career. She is best known for ...

, a member of the Canadian National Team. No other any

team has ever reached the NCAA

of a 64-team tournament.

Club career

Negrón played professionally for the New Jersey Lady Stallions and

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 ...

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 ...

International career

During the summer of 2004, Negrón played internationally with the United States U-21 team in Iceland and was a member of the pool for the full U.S. National Soccer Team. However, in 2010, she played officially for Puerto Rico at senior level.

International goals

''Scores and results list Puerto Rico's goal tally first''

Coaching career

Negrón served as Assistant Coach for

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

and

women's soccer programs. After serving as Assistant Coach during Princeton's second

perfect season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, but has occurred more commonly at th ...

and second-best NCAA appearance of reaching the Round of 32, Negrón founded her own soccer training academy, Champions League Soccer Academy.

Business ventures

In September 2020, Negron, along with sports media executive Hannah Brown, launched ata football, a streaming platform focused on women's football. It was acquired by

DAZN Group DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...

on August 15, 2023.https://www.dazn.com/en-GB/news/soccer/ata-football-joins-dazn-the-home-of-womens-football/1kmovcpuf8j1r1x01a6td6uwp5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Negron, Esmeralda 1983 births Living people Women's association football forwards Puerto Rican women's footballers Puerto Rico women's international footballers Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Puerto Rican expatriate women's footballers Puerto Rican expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's footballers in France Puerto Rican expatriate sportspeople in Germany American women's soccer players Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan alumni Soccer players from Bergen County, New Jersey People from Harrington Park, New Jersey Princeton Tigers women's soccer players New Jersey Lady Stallions players New Jersey Wildcats players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate women's soccer players in Germany American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Expatriate women's footballers in Germany 21st-century American sportswomen