Danielle Ruth Fotopoulos (; born March 24, 1976) is an American soccer coach and former player. Fotopoulos holds the all-time

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) Division I records for goals and points, and was a member of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

team that won the 1998 NCAA women's soccer championship, and also the United States national team that won the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

. She was the head coach of the Eckerd women's soccer team until 2022.

Early life

Fotopoulos was born in

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. It is southwest of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. The population was 7,888 at the 2010 census. There are many large corporations bas ...

in 1976, the daughter of Bill and Donna Garrett. She grew up in

Altamonte Springs, Florida Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metro ...

, and attended Lyman High School in

Longwood, Florida Longwood is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. The population was 15,087 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Longwood is located at . According t ...

from 1990 to 1994. While in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, she was a varsity letterman in six different sports—

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, cross country, soccer,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. Her high school soccer team won three Florida state championships during her four years on the team.

College career

Fotopoulos initially attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

(SMU) in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, where she played for the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. The Mustangs were founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texa ...

soccer team from 1994 to 1995. After her sophomore year, she transferred from SMU to the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Becky Burleigh's new

Florida Gators women's soccer The Florida Gators women's soccer team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college soccer. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They ...

team for two seasons. She suffered an ACL injury before the start of the 1997 season and returned to the Gators for her senior year in 1998. She helped the Gators win the 1998 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, scoring the winning

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

in the final of the NCAA soccer tournament. During her 1996 and 1998 seasons with the Gators, the team also won both the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) regular season and tournament championships, and she was twice recognized as the SEC Player of the Year. Fotopoulos finished her college career as the NCAA's all-time leader in goals (118) and points (284). She was the 1998–99 recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Soccer, recognizing her as the outstanding collegiate women's soccer player of the year. She graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in 1999, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2008.

Professional career

Fotopoulos played professionally with the

Carolina Courage Carolina Courage was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific SAS Stadium in Cary, North Carolina i ...

of the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

, winning the league championship in 2002. She was also a member of the United States Women's National Soccer team.

Coaching career

Fotopoulos is married to former

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU) women's soccer team head coach George Fotopoulos. In 2004, she served as co-head coach with her husband at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. They finished with an 8–11–1 overall record (2–8–1 in the SEC). In 2006, she became an assistant coach for the Florida Gators soccer team at the

, her alma mater. She currently lives in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

with her husband and their four children. She coached multiple teams at the

Tampa Bay United Soccer Club Tampa Bay United Soccer Club is a soccer club from Tampa, Florida that plays in the Southeast Division in USL League Two. History The club was founded as a youth soccer club in Tampa, Florida, where they are the largest youth team in the city ...

and currently coaches at Florida Premier FC where she is the GIRLS ECNLR Director. She is also a partner for the semi-pro team,

Tampa Bay Hellenic Tampa Bay Hellenic are an American women's soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. Established in 2008, they currently play in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL). They play their home games at the Ed Radice Sports Complex. Their colors are whit ...

; her husband is currently the head coach. From 2010 to 2022, Fotopoulos was the head of coach of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

women's soccer team at

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Honors

Individual awards and honors

* WUSA All-Star team selection: 2003 * Second-team All-WUSA: 2002 * Honda Award: 1998 *

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

National Player of the Year: 1998 * ESPN.com/''Soccer Times'' National Player of the Year: 1998 * Soccer America Player of the Year: 1998 * NCAA Final Four Offensive MVP: 1998 *

Player of the Year: 1996, 1998 * All-American: 1995, 1996, 1998 * SEC Tournament MVP: 1996

Team honors

* FIFA Women's World Cup (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

) *

Founders Cup (2002) * NCAA Women's Soccer Championship (1999)

Statistics

College

WUSA

W-League

National team

References

External links

Danielle Fotopoulos, Soccer
''Sports Illustrated'' (February 11, 1999). Retrieved May 6, 2010. *USSoccer.com,
Danielle Fotopoulos Retires from International Soccer
" press release (February 22, 2007). Retrieved May 6, 2010.
University of Florida player bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fotopoulos, Danielle 1976 births Living people Carolina Courage players Florida Gators women's soccer coaches Florida Gators women's soccer players LSU Tigers women's soccer coaches SMU Mustangs women's soccer players Sportspeople from Seminole County, Florida People from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania People from Altamonte Springs, Florida United States women's international soccer players 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Female sports coaches American women's soccer players Women's association football forwards American soccer coaches