Robyn Jones Horner (born Robyn Leigh Jones; January 1, 1985) is an American

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. She played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Early life

Horner grew up in the Titusville section of

Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Hopewell Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located at the cross-roads between the Delaware River, Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan ...

and played high school soccer at

The Pennington School The Pennington School is an independent, coeducational college preparatory school for day and boarding students located in Pennington, Mercer County, New Jersey. The school operates for students in sixth through twelfth grades. The Head of S ...

. She attended

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 ...

for two years on a partial scholarship for soccer, though she eventually transferred to Franklin & Marshall University for the experience of attending a smaller campus.

Club career

Horner started her club soccer career with the

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. Thanks to her performance at an open tryout Horner made the transition to becoming a professional player, joining the

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional association football, soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played ...

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 ...

, where she played for two seasons. Following the folding of the WPS as a league and the Independence as a club in early 2012, Horner would return to the USL W-League, spending the 2012 through 2015 seasons with the

Charlotte Lady Eagles The Charlotte Eagles (formerly the Charlotte Lady Eagles) is an American women's soccer team that plays in the USL W League. Owned by Missionary Athletes International (MAI), it is a sister club to the namesake men's team, and the Southern ...

. Horner would return to professional play for one final match, getting recruited as an emergency goalkeeper by Western New York Flash after both of their starting keepers were unable to feature on May 23, 2015. Horner would get the win in her sole

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 ...

appearance.

Coaching career

Horner began her coaching career in 2013 at

Pfeiffer University Pfeiffer University is a private university in Misenheimer, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History Pfeiffer originated from a home school operated by Emily Prudden in the late-19th century ...

, joining the

Pfeiffer Falcons The Pfeiffer Falcons are the athletic teams that represent Pfeiffer University, located in Misenheimer, North Carolina, in intercollegiate sports at the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Falcons have pr ...

women's soccer staff as an assistant coach. She took over the role of head coach in 2015, going on to lead the team for four seasons with an overall record of 39-26-3. Horner joined the

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memoria ...

organization in 2019 in roles of Director of Goalkeeping and Head Coach in their girls academy. She was announced as the inaugural coach for the club's

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a Women's association football, women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in May 2022 and follows the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League, a similar league that existed from 1995 to 2015. It is c ...

team ahead of the 2022 season. She returned as head coach for the 2023 W League season, which would be the team's final season. Following her time with the W League's Independence, Horner returned to college soccer as goalkeeper coach for the

Wingate Bulldogs The Wingate Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent Wingate University, located in Wingate, North Carolina, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Bulldogs compete as members of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) for all 22 vars ...

women's soccer team.

References

External links

Philadelphia Independence player profile
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Rutgers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Robyn 1985 births Living people American women's soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen Philadelphia Independence players Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's soccer players Soccer players from Mercer County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Roseburg, Oregon Franklin & Marshall Diplomats women's soccer players Soccer players from Oregon Women's association football goalkeepers People from Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey The Pennington School alumni National Women's Soccer League players Charlotte Lady Eagles players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Western New York Flash players