April Dawn Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former

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 ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. She was among the first players on the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

, and was

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 ...

of the United States team which won the first ever FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991. She finished her international playing career with 46

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and 35 goals. Heinrich coached the USA women's team from 2000 to 2004, under her tenure team USA finished third in

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at s ...

, won silver medal at

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, and gold medal at

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Olympics. In 1998 she became the first female player inducted into the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

. In January 2011, Heinrichs was appointed Technical Director for women's soccer by

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

Collegiate record

Heinrichs is a 1986 graduate of the UNC where she was named National Player of the Year twice and earned All-American First team honors three times.

Club career

After playing in the Mundialito with the United States national team, Heinrichs spent a short period playing professional soccer in the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

with Juventus and then

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

Women's national team record

April Heinrichs played for

from 1986 through 1991, appeared in 46 matches and scored 35 goals, including fours goals at the

1991 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It took place in Guangdong, China from 16 to 30 November 1991. FIFA, football's international gove ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, where

Heinrichs formed a forward line dubbed the " triple-edged sword" with

Carin Jennings Carin Leslie Jennings-Gabarra (; born January 9, 1965) is an American retired soccer forward. She earned 117 caps with the United States women's national soccer team from 1987 to 1996 and was awarded the Golden Ball Award as the best player a ...

and Michelle Akers-Stahl. Heinrichs remains among the all-time leaders in goals scored for the USA.

Matches and goals scored at World Cup

April Heinrichs competed in the first

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 ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, and finished with her team as World Champions; played in five matches and scored four goals.

College head coach

She had an 8–6–1 record as head coach at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1990. Heinrichs guided

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

to a 56–40–7 record from 1991 to 1995, earning Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1995 after leading the Terps to their first NCAA Tournament berth. She was head coach from 1996 to 2000 at

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, where she recorded a 52–27–7 mark in leading the Cavaliers to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She led Virginia to a 13–10 record, including a trip to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 1999 season.

Coaching U.S. Women's National Team

She joined the

as an assistant coach in 1995. She became the team's head coach in 2000. During her tenure, Heinrichs was often criticized for failing to lead the previously unstoppable national squad to a major international championship, but she coached the team to victory at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Heinrichs led the United States to wins in international tournaments such as the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

Four Nations Cup The 4 Nations Cup is an annual women's ice hockey tournament, held between four major national teams in the sport; currently, these are Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland. Until 2000, when Sweden joined, the tournament was the 3 Nation ...

, Gold Cup and a much celebrated return to the podium by winning Gold in Athens. Heinrichs also led her team to the silver medal in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and the bronze medal in the 2003 Women's World Cup. Heinrichs' five years at the helm led to an 87–17–20 record. She resigned as coach on February 15, 2005, and became a consultant for U.S. Soccer.

Olympic Committee

She was named head coach for women's soccer at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

, on December 19, 2005, and later resigned to accept a position with the

U.S. Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Technical Director

In January 2011, April Heinrichs was hired by

as Technical Director for women's soccer. The appointment, along with

Jill Ellis Jillian Anne Ellis (born 6 September 1966) is an English-American soccer coach and executive who is currently the president of San Diego Wave FC. Ellis coached the United States women's national soccer team from 2014 to October 2019 and won two ...

as Development Director, marks the first time U.S. Soccer had appointed full-time positions to oversee the women's youth national teams program. Besides focusing on technical directions of women's soccer, Heinrichs will oversee the under-20 and under-18 women's youth teams.

References

;Match reports

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame biographyUCI Women's Soccer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrichs, April 1964 births Living people 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup managers American women's soccer coaches FIFA Women's World Cup-winning captains FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players National Soccer Hall of Fame members North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Serie A (women's football) players United States women's international soccer players United States women's national soccer team managers William & Mary Tribe women's soccer coaches American women's soccer players Women's association football forwards Virginia Cavaliers women's soccer coaches Princeton Tigers women's soccer coaches Maryland Terrapins women's soccer coaches UC Irvine Anteaters women's soccer coaches Female association football managers American Olympic coaches ASDF Juventus Torino players Expatriate women's footballers in Italy American expatriate sportspeople in Italy A.C.F. Prato players