Janna "Jessica" Torny (born 30 September 1980) is a Dutch football coach and former footballer, who is currently the head coach of the Feyenoord's women's team. As a player, she made 62 appearances for the Netherlands women's national football team.

Playing career

Club

In 2000, at the age of 20, Torny joined German

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. In 1990 the German Foo ...

club

FFC Heike Rheine FFC Heike Rheine was a German women's football club based in Rheine, North Rhine-Westphalia. Heike Rheine was the first independent women's football club in Germany. History The club has its origins at the VfB Rheine. They had played on a loca ...

. She had been playing for

Puck Deventer Puck Deventer was founded as "Damesvoetbalvereniging Puck" (''ladies football club Puck''). The club was unusual because it only fielded women's teams. It won the national title in 1982, when it won the Playoff format, play-off competition between ...

but wanted to experience a higher level of football in Germany. She played for Heike Rheine until 2006, when she joined Dutch team . In 2007, Torny joined

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

, with whom she won the 2007–08

KNVB Women's Cup The KNVB Women's Cup ( nl, KNVB Beker voor Vrouwen) is the cup competition for women's football in the Netherlands. The competition was established in 1980, along with the KNVB Amateur Cup. From the 2007-08 season onwards, the first round of th ...

. In 2008, she joined Willem II.

International

At international level, Torny made 62 appearances for the

Netherlands women's national football team The Netherlands women's national football team ( nl, Nederlands vrouwenvoetbalelftal) is directed by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), which is a member of UEFA and FIFA. In 1971, the team played the first women's international foo ...

, scoring 14 goals. She made her senior debut in a 0–0 home draw with

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 ...

on 11 June 1997. In total, she made 75 appearances including for youth teams, between 1996 and 2009. Torny announced her retirement from football in 2009.

Coaching career

After retiring, Torny worked as a coach for the Dutch under-15 women's team from 2009 until 2012. In 2012, she became head coach of

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

, and was head coach there until 2015. In August 2014, Torny was announced as an assistant coach of the

Netherlands women's national under-19 football team The Netherlands women's national under-19 football team represents the Netherlands at the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association. Fixtures and results ; Legend 2022 Fixtures and ...

. She continued to manage Heerenveen. In 2015, she became head coach of Netherlands women under-19s. During her tenure, the team reached the semi-finals of the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2019 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The 2019 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Women's Under-19 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (22nd edition if the Under-18 era is included), the annual international youth football champ ...

s. In May 2019, Torny began studying for a UEFA Pro Licence. She benefitted from a change in the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women ...

's rules that allowed women's footballers who had played more than 40 matches for the national team to get a UEFA A Licence without needing to get lower level licences beforehand. In 2020, Torny obtained her UEFA Pro Licence, making her the fourth Dutch women to have the qualification. In 2021, Torny was announced as an assistant coach of the Netherlands women's senior team, under new head coach

Mark Parsons Mark Richard David Parsons (born 8 August 1986) is an English football manager who is currently the head coach of American club Washington Spirit. He had previously managed the Netherlands women's national team and the Portland Thorns FC. Pa ...

. Torny had been considered a favourite to succeed

Sarina Wiegman Sarina Petronella Wiegman (; born 26 October 1969), also known as Sarina Wiegman-Glotzbach, is a Dutch football manager and former player who has been the manager of the England women's national team since September 2021. In her playing care ...

as head coach. In December 2022,

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

announced that Torny had joined the club as the new head coach of the club's women's team. She signed a contract for a season and a half with an option for an additional season.

Personal life

Torny is from

Vriezenveen Vriezenveen ( Lower Saxon: t Vjenne, Venne, Vjenne, Vreeznven or Vreeinvenne'') is a town in the municipality of Twenterand in the Dutch province of Overijssel. The population was 13,800 on January 1, 2020. Until July 1, 2002, Vriezenveen for ...

, Netherlands.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torny, Jessica 1980 births Living people Dutch women's footballers Netherlands women's international footballers People from Vriezenveen Dutch expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany FFC Heike Rheine players Frauen-Bundesliga players FC Twente (women) players Willem II (women) players Eredivisie (women) players Puck Deventer players SC Heerenveen (women) managers Women's association football players not categorized by position Footballers from Overijssel Female association football managers