Amanda Caryl Cromwell (born June 15, 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 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach and former player, and former head coach of Orlando Pride in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

. Cromwell was previously the coach at the University of Central Florida from 1999 to 2013, where she won five tournament and eight regular season championships. UCF made 11 NCAA Tournaments under her watch.2010 UCF Knights Women's Soccer Yearbook
/ref> She was later head coach of the UCLA Bruins women's soccer team for nine seasons. Cromwell played for the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

from 1988 to 1992, where she captained the team to the 1991 NCAA Final Four. From 1991 to 1998, she was a member of the United States women's national soccer team, which earned third place in the

1995 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was held in Sweden and won by Norway women's national football team, Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament fea ...

and the gold medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. After departing the national team, Cromwell played for the

Maryland Pride The Maryland Pride was an WPSL club based in Howard County, Maryland Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 287,085. As of the 2020 census its population rose to 328,200. Its count ...

Tampa Bay Xtreme The Tampa Bay Extreme were a USL W-League women's soccer club based out of Clearwater, Florida. The team began play in 1997 and folded after the 2002 season. In 1998, they signed Michelle Akers. Based at the 2,000-seater sports field at Countryside ...

, Charlotte Eagles, Washington Freedom, Atlanta Beat and

San Jose CyberRays San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National ...

. From 2002 to 2006, Cromwell served as a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, after being appointed by President George W. Bush.

Early life

Cromwell was born in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 1970. She graduated in 1988 from

Annandale High School Annandale High School is a public high school in Annandale, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system. The school's student body has been well-recognized for its high level of racial and cultural diversity ...

in Annandale, Virginia, where she won a state championship and four district titles. In 1992, she graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor's degree in biology. During her tenure with the Virginia Cavaliers, Cromwell helped lead the team as captain to the Final Four in 1991. That season she finished as 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 the ...

and Women's Collegiate Soccer Player of the Year. She was a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection, and three-time All-South Region team selection. Cromwell was also a two-time NSCAA All-American and a Soccer America MVP, and was voted the team's MVP in 1989. As a freshman in 1988, she was named Soccer America's Freshman of the Year and the Cavalier's Rookie of the Year. Cromwell was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Team.

Professional career

Upon graduation from Virginia, Cromwell joined the United States women's national soccer team. While on the team, Cromwell earned a bronze medal during the 1995

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Women's World Cup in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, and a gold medal during the 1996 Summer Olympics. During her time on the national team, she earned 55 caps. Between her tenure on the national team, and after she left in 1998, Cromwell played professionally in the United States and abroad. Between 1997 and 2003, she played for the

, Charlotte Eagles, Washington Freedom, Atlanta Beat and

. In 1994, she played for the Hammarby Soccer Club in Sweden, making eight appearances under player-coach Pia Sundhage. In 2010, Cromwell was inducted into the Virginia-DC Soccer Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

UMBC Retrievers

Cromwell served as an assistant coach at her alma mater from 1992 to 1994, before becoming the head coach of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers women's team from 1996 to 1997.

UCF Knights

In 1999, Cromwell became the head coach of the UCF Knights women's soccer program. After taking the helm, Cromwell helped to resurrect a program that only reached the NCAA Tournament twice in the previous ten years. She led the Knights for 13 seasons, with only 1 losing record, and led the team to 10 Tournament appearances, including five straight through 2011.

UCLA Bruins

In 2013, Cromwell became the head coach of the UCLA Bruins women's soccer program. Eight months after becoming coach, she led her team to the program's first-ever NCAA Championship. Cromwell's 2013 Bruins finished the season with a 22–1–3 record and went unbeaten over their last 21 games. They gave up just one goal during the NCAA Tournament and only eight goals all season, leading the nation in goals against average (0.296). In addition to winning the national championship, the team won the Pac-12 title and tied the school record for most victories in a season. Cromwell was named Soccer America's Coach of the Year, the first-such honor for a UCLA women's soccer coach.

Orlando Pride

On December 7, 2021, Cromwell was announced as head coach of

(NWSL) team Orlando Pride, her first head coaching position at a professional club. In becoming the Pride's third permanent head coach, Cromwell had to divest her investment stake in 2022 expansion side Angel City FC. On June 7, 2022, it was announced Cromwell and along with her assistant coach Sam Greene had been placed on administrative leave on the recommendation of the NWSL and NWSL Players Association joint investigation team following alleged "retaliation in violation of the NWSL Policy to Prevent and Eliminate Workplace Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying." Her contract was officially terminated on October 10, 2022, after the league found both Cromwell and Greene had engaged in retaliatory conduct.

Sports diplomacy

Cromwell has also been an active participant in the

Sports Diplomacy Politics and sports or sports diplomacy describes the use of sport as a means to influence diplomatic, social, and political relations. Sports diplomacy may transcend cultural differences and bring people together. The use of sports and politics ...

Sports Envoy program for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, she has traveled to Argentina,

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, Germany, and Morocco, where she worked with

Lauren Gregg Lauren Gregg (born July 20, 1960) is an American soccer coach and retired soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. She made one appearance for the United States women's national soccer team in 1986. She was the first-ever female ass ...

, Jay Miller, Tracy Noonan, and Briana Scurry to conduct basketball clinics and events that have reached in excess of 2650 youth and women from underserved areas. In so doing, Cromwell helped contribute to Sports Diplomacy's mission to empower girls and women through sport while promoting youth empowerment.

Career statistics

International goals

: ''United States score listed first.''

Head coaching record

Honors

Player

;United States *

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

third-place:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Head coach

;UCF Knights * Atlantic Sun Conference regular season (3): 1999, 2001, 2002 *Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament (4): 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 *

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

regular season (4): 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 *Conference USA Tournament (1): 2012 ;UCLA Bruins *

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

regular season (4): 2013, 2014, 2020, 2021 * NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship (1):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

;Individual *''Soccer America'' Women's Coach of the Year: 2014 *Pac-12 Conference Coach of the Year: 2020

References

External links

*
WUSA player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cromwell, Amanda Living people 1970 births American women's soccer coaches UCF Knights women's soccer coaches UCLA Bruins women's soccer coaches People from Virginia University of Virginia alumni Virginia Cavaliers women's soccer players Soccer players from Washington, D.C. Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer American women's soccer players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Washington Freedom players San Jose CyberRays players Women's association football midfielders United States women's international soccer players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics UMBC Retrievers women's soccer coaches Annandale High School alumni Orlando Pride coaches National Women's Soccer League coaches