Tobin Heath

Tobin Powell Heath (born May 29, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for OL Reign of the NWSL, as well as the United States national team. Heath has been described as "perhaps the USA's most skillful player" by the United States Soccer Federation, and she was voted the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2016.

Heath played college soccer for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and helped the team win three NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championships. Professionally, Heath has played for the New Jersey Wildcats in 2004–05, Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues in 2007 and Pali Blues in 2009, Atlanta Beat, Sky Blue FC, and New York Fury of Women's Professional Soccer as well as Paris Saint-Germain in France and for both Manchester United and Arsenal in the English FA Women's Super League. She has won two NWSL Championships with her former team Portland Thorns.

Heath won gold with the national team at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 2012 London Summer Olympics, 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and she played for the team at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup where the U.S. finished in second place.

In 2020, Heath was named to the FIFA FIFPro Women's World11.

Early life and education

Heath was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to parents Jeff and Cindy Heath. She grew up in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Heath has a younger brother, Jeffrey, and two older sisters, Perry and Katie, who are active in Athletes in Action and Champions for Christ. Heath started playing soccer at the age of 4 in the back of a YMCA. She has described herself as a proud and devout follower of the Christian faith and is very close to her family.

Heath graduated from Ridge High School in Basking Ridge in 2006, where she played soccer for three years. She also played for the 2003 Club National Champion PDA Wildcats team. Heath was ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the nation in the Class of 2006 by Soccer Buzz magazine and was named to the Parade Magazine All-America team in 2005.

North Carolina Tar Heels

Heath committed to attend the University of North Carolina (UNC) when she was due to begin her junior year at high school. She did not play soccer in her senior year, instead she decided to train with boys. In her consensus freshman year in 2006 with the Tar Heels, she was part of the All-America 2006 national championship team and made 23 appearances at left midfield (22 of them were starts), scoring four goals and assisting nine. As a sophomore, she scored two goals, assisting another five, and was named to the First-Team NSCAA All-American and First-Team All-ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). As a junior, she scored eight goals with eight assists, this helped the UNC to a 25–1–2 record and the NCAA title.

As a senior at UNC, she was involved in fifteen Tar Heels goals, five of them she scored and assisted 10. The team compiled a record of 23–3–1 and recorded 1–0 victories in both the NCAA semi-final and championship game. She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team and also the first runner-up for the MAC Hermann Trophy, given to the college soccer's top player.

Heath helped lead UNC to NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and four straight Atlantic Coast Conference titles. UNC soccer coach Anson Dorrance notes that Heath preferred to nutmeg opposing players rather than dribble the ball around them.

Club career

USL W-League (2004–2009)

From 2004 to 2006 Heath played with the New Jersey Wildcats, then known as the PSA Wildcats, where she helped the team win the USL W-League Championship in 2005 and be crowned USL W-League Runners-Up in 2004, after assisting the team in becoming Champions of the USL W-League Northeast Division in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The next year she played for Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues, the team finished the season second in their division and made it to the 2007 Conference Semifinal. In 2009 she played one season with California's Pali Blues, who went on to win the USL W-League Western Conference title and the W-League Championship title.

Women's Professional Soccer (2010–11)

In 2010, she was the first overall pick in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) 2010 college draft and was selected by the expansion team Atlanta Beat. After suffering an injury to her right ankle in her third appearance for the Beat, she missed the remainder of the 2010 season. She started in all three of her appearances for the club.

On December 10, 2010, Heath, along with Beat teammates Eniola Aluko and Angie Kerr, were traded to Sky Blue FC in return for the fourth and eighth pick in the 2011 WPS Draft of the WPSL Elite League. At the start of the season, she was recovering from an ankle injury. Afterwards, she played one game with New York Fury and was later called to the national team.

Paris Saint-Germain (2013–2014)