Danesha LaVonne Adams (born June 6, 1986) is an American retired soccer

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. She is an assistant coach for the Houston Cougars. She played for

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

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 ...

(NWSL). She previously played for

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

and

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

of the NWSL,

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

and

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional 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 its home games at West ...

in the WPS, Medkila IL in Norway's

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

Vittsjö GIK Vittsjö Gymnastik- och Idrottsklubb is a football club from Vittsjö, Sweden. They play in the highest level of women's soccer leagues in Sweden, the Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OB ...

in the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

, and

Ataşehir Belediyespor Ataşehir Belediyespor is a Turkish sports club based in the Ataşehir district of Istanbul. It is known for its women's football team that won the Turkish League championship in 2011, the fourth year of its existence. They defended thei ...

in Turkey's Women's First Football League as well as for the

Cleveland Internationals Cleveland Internationals was an American soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2004, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes Division ...

and

Pali Blues Pali Blues was an American women's association football, soccer team, which played from 2008 to 2014. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team pl ...

in the W-League.

Early life

Born in Bellflower, California to LaVonne and Lawrence Adams, Danesha attended

Walnut High School Walnut High School is a public high school located at Walnut, California, among the San Jose Hills of the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. Ranked in the top 100 high schools in America by the Daily Beast Publication, Walnut High Schoo ...

Walnut, California Walnut is a city in the eastern part of Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 29,172, and in 2019 the population was estimated at 29,685. The greater Walnut Valley is located betw ...

for one year, earning Rookie of the Year honors and playing on the Region-IV Olympic Development Program (ODP) Team. After moving to Ohio with her family, Adams finished her high school career at Shaker Heights High School in

Shaker Heights, Ohio Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the city population was 29,439. Shaker Heights is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland, abutting the eastern edge of the city's limits. In July 1911, ...

where she would set the school's single-season record for goals and assists Adams played club soccer for the FC Slammers and helped the team to two state championships. She was named MVP of the Under-19 Super Group at the 2003 Surf Cup after leading her team to the title and helped her team capture the Frosted Flakes Kellogg's Cup in 2000, earning a picture on a Kellogg's cereal box. Adams was a Third-Team All-Ohio selection.

Playing career

Collegiate

Adams attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

where she played four years for the Bruins. As a freshman, she played in all 25 games, starting 23. She ended the season ranked second on the team and fourth in the

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

in scoring with 28 points (12 goals and 4 assists). She also ranked first on the team with five game-winning goals. Adams scored four goals during the NCAA Tournament, including game winners over Duke in the third round and Princeton during the semi-final. She was named a Soccer America and Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American. Other season honors included: Pac-10 Player of the Week, 2004 NCAA All-Tournament Team, and Soccer America's Team of the Week. As a sophomore, she started all 26 matches and led the Pac-10 in scoring with 46 points on 21 goals and four assists, setting a new single-season school record with nine game-winning goals. Adams was named to the NSCAA/adidas second-team All-American and was a member of Soccer America's Collegiate MVP Team. She was also named First-team Soccer Buzz All-American, First-team All-Pac-10, and was a member of the all-tournament team at the NCAA College Cup. During the NCAA Tournament, she scored a record four goals in the Bruins' 5–0 victory over Virginia during the NCAA Quarterfinals and tallied a total of six goals during UCLA's run to the NCAA Final. During her junior year, Adams played and started 19 matches. She missed the first four matches of the year while competing at the FIFA Under-20 World Championships in Russia and later missed two more matches while competing with the full U.S. Women's National Team. Adams earned third-team NSCAA/adidas All-America honors, was a Soccer Buzz second-team All-American and First-team All-Pac-10 selection. She ranked second on the team in scoring with 28 points on twelve goals and four assists. She also ranked second in game-winning goals with seven. Adams was named Soccer America's National Player of the Week after scoring three goals in victories over number three-ranked Texas A&M and number eleven UConn.

Club

Women's Professional Soccer, 2009–2011

Adams signed with the

for the 2009 WPS season. She made 12 appearances for the club, making two starts. Adams signed with the

for the 2010 season. Her goal in the 103rd minute of the WPS Super Semi-final gave the Independence a 2–1 overtime win over 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's ...

leading the team to the 2010 WPS Championship.

National Women's Soccer League, 2013–2014

In 2013, Adams signed with

for the inaugural season of the

(NWSL). On January 10, 2014, the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

selected Adams with the ninth pick in the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft. Just a few days later, on January 13, 2014, the Houston Dash traded Adams to the

for

Stephanie Ochs Stephanie Elise Ochs (born August 29, 1990) is an American soccer forward. Early life Born in San Diego, California to Carol and David Ochs, Stephanie attended Patrick Henry High School where she played on the varsity soccer team all four yea ...

. On September 12 Washington Spirit waived Adams. On September 15, 2014, Adams was selected by

, from among players waived by NWSL clubs, for the 2015 season.

Ataşehir Belediyespor, 2013

On November 1, 2013, Adams signed for the Turkish team

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. She capped in all the seven matches of the Women's First League's first half season, and scored eight goals.

International

As a junior international, Adams took part in the 2006 U-20 World Championship, where she was 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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

's top scorer with three goals and was included in the competition's all-star team. She made her first and only appearance for 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 ...

one month later in a friendly match against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

, providing an assist for

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States ...

at the 82nd minute.

International career statistics

Coaching career

She coached for the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

from 2017 until 2020, when she accepted an assistant coach position with the

Pacific Tigers The Pacific Tigers represent the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in intercollegiate athletics. The Tigers compete in NCAA Division I, and are currently in their second stint as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). C ...

. In the preseason of 2021, her and J.J. Wozniak were selected as interim co-head coaches and at the end of the season, were promoted to permanent co-head coaches.

References

External links

*
US Soccer player profile

WPS player profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Danesha UCLA Bruins women's soccer players American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players Living people Chicago Red Stars players Philadelphia Independence players 1986 births Pali Blues players People from Bellflower, California Sportspeople from Shaker Heights, Ohio Soccer players from California Soccer players from Ohio American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Toppserien players USL W-League (1995–2015) players NJ/NY Gotham FC players National Women's Soccer League players Women's Professional Soccer players Ataşehir Belediyespor players Expatriate women's footballers in Turkey American expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Apollon Ladies F.C. players Washington Spirit players Portland Thorns FC players Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards United States women's under-20 international soccer players African-American women's soccer players Medkila IL (women) players Damallsvenskan players Vittsjö GIK players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women