Robin Janelle Confer (born February 21, 1976) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward, making eight appearances for the United States women's national team.

Career

Confer played for the Clearwater Central Marauders in high school, where she scored 277 goals and was named a ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

'' High-School

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. In college, she played for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

, helping the team to win the NCAA championship in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. She was a ''

Soccer America ''Soccer America'', the oldest soccer-specific media publisher in the US, was founded in 1971 by Clay Berling in Albany, California. The magazine is headquartered in Oakland, California. History and profile The magazine was founded by Clay Be ...

'' First-Team and

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of United States, American soccer Coach (sport), coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization i ...

Third-Team All-American in 1997, and was chosen as a Freshman All-American in 1994 by ''Soccer America''. The same year she was chosen by ''Soccer Buzz'' and ''Soccer News'' as the National Player of the Year, and was a finalist for 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 ...

. She was included in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

All-Tournament team in all four seasons, including 1997 when she was chosen as the tournament's offensive MVP. In total, she scored 77 goals and recorded 55 assists in 107 appearances for the Tar Heels. She ranks fourth in career points (goals and assists) at Carolina with 209, fifth in goals, and sixth in assists. She also holds the joint-NCAA record for most games played, along with Kristi Eveland, having never missed a game in her collegiate career. Confer began her national career with the U.S. under-21 team, where she was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. She made her international debut for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

on January 18, 1996 in a friendly match against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. In total, she made eight appearances for the U.S. and scored one goal, earning her final cap on December 16, 1998 in another friendly match against Ukraine. In club soccer, Confer played for the Raleigh Wings in 1998, as well as the

New Jersey Lady Stallions New Jersey Lady Stallions were a USL W-League club based in Wayne, New Jersey, associated with the former Men's USL team, the New Jersey Stallions. The team folded after the 2004 season. Year-by-year Honors * USL W-League Northeast Division Cham ...

. She was selected by the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women' ...

in the

2000 WUSA Draft The WUSA Inaugural Player Draft, held before Women's United Soccer Association's initial 2001 season, distributed players to the league's eight inaugural teams. The draft occurred on December 10 and 11, 2000. This took place after each team was ...

, where she made one appearance during the 2001 season. However, a back injury cut her playing career short. Confer was included in the Atlantic Coast Conference Top 50 Honorees. She later began coaching, working as the assistant for the

(as a volunteer),

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I. Sports sp ...

Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Agg ...

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdiv ...

, and

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

. In 2014, she was appointed as the head coach of the

North Florida Ospreys The North Florida Ospreys are the athletic teams of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. The Ospreys compete in the ASUN Conference in NCAA Division I. UNF became a full-fledged member of Division I in 2009; previously, the Os ...

women's soccer team, where she remained until her resignation in 2018 in order to pursue opportunities outside coaching. She also has coached as part of the U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program. In 2019, Confer worked as the director of

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

operations for the

Personal life

Confer is a native of Clearwater, Florida. She earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in exercise and sports science from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

in 1998.

Career statistics

International

International goals

References

External links

North Carolina player profile

North Carolina career summary

North Florida Ospreys coaching summary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Confer, Robin 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Clearwater, Florida Soccer players from Florida American women's soccer players American women's soccer coaches United States women's international soccer players Women's association football forwards North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Boston Breakers (WUSA) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Women's United Soccer Association players North Florida Ospreys Raleigh Wings players