Jill Ann Rutten (born September 2, 1968) 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 who played as a

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 ...

, making one appearance for the United States women's national team.

Career

Rutten played for the Springbrook Blue Devils in high school, where she was the school's Soccer Player of the Year and was included in the All-County and All-Metropolitan selections. She also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

in high school, where she was included in the All-League, All-County, and All-Metropolitan selections. In college, she played for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...

from 1986 to 1990, though she did not participate in the 1989 season. She was a ''

Soccer America ''Soccer America'', the oldest soccer-specific media publisher in the US, was founded in 1971 by Clay Berling in Albany, California. The magazine is headquartered in Oakland, California. History and profile The magazine was founded by Clay Ber ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n in 1991, and was included in the ''Soccer America'' All-Freshman Team in 1986. Rutten was included in the All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

first team in 1988 and 1990, and twice was included in the ACC All-Tournament Team. In total, she scored 26 goals and recorded 37 assists in 93 appearances for the Wolfpack. She holds the record for career assists, matches played, and matches started at the school. Rutten was selected to compete at the

U.S. Olympic Festival The U.S. Olympic Festival was a junior multi-sport event held in the United States by the United States Olympic Committee in the years between the Olympic Games. It was started in 1978 as an American counterpart to the communist Spartakiad – a si ...

in 1987, 1989, 1990, 1994, and 1998. She played for the United States B national team in the 1990 North America Cup, scoring a goal against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. She made her only international appearance for 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 ...

on September 12, 1998, in the 1998 Women's U.S. Cup against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. She came on as a substitute in the 69th minute for

Brandi Chastain Brandi Denise Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the United States national team from 1988 ...

, with the match finishing as a 9–0 win. After college, Rutten left the U.S. to play professional soccer. She began in Japan with Fujita Tendai SC Mercury, playing with the team in the first-tier Japan Ladies Soccer League, latter called the L.League. In 1994, she joined Swedish club Umeå IK in the Division 1 (second level in the pyramid), before moving for the 1994–95 season to

Torino Calcio Femminile Torino Women Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica, or simply Torino Women, is an Italian football team from Torino competing in Serie A. Founded in 1981, Torino reached five years later Serie A where it has played since. While the club has ye ...

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 ...

, the top level in Italy. She then returned to Umeå IK in 1996, now playing in the top-tier

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 ...

. In 1997, she joined German club SC Klinge Seckach in the

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 ...

. In 1997, she returned to Italy in Serie A, where she would spend the next six years. She played for until 1998, where she won the league title, before joining in 1999. In the 2000–01 season, she played for , before joining

Foroni Verona Foroni Verona Football Club was an Italian women's football club from Verona. Founded in 1989 as A.C. Foroni, it reached Serie A in 1999, and soon became one of the leading Italian teams in the first half of the 2000s, winning two championships ...

in 2002, where she won her second Serie A title. From 2003 to 2008, she played for Swiss club

FF Lugano 1976 Football Femminile Lugano 1976 known as FF Lugano 1976 or simply Lugano are a Swiss women's football team from Lugano, Ticino who play domestically in the Frauen Nationalliga A. Since 2015 and through their chairman Emanuele Gaiarin, encourage ...

, who were in the top-division Nationalliga A until the 2007–08 season, where they played in the second-tier after being relegated. Following her playing career, Rutten began to work as a youth soccer coach. She has coached at Brit-Am Soccer Academy, the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Olympic Development Program, Olney Boys & Girls Community Sports Association, FCGB Center of Excellence, and the middle school girls' team of Sandy Spring Friends School. She was included in the ACC 50th Anniversary Women's Soccer Team in 2002. In 2015, she was inducted into the

Springbrook Springbrook may refer to: Places Australia * Springbrook, Queensland ** Springbrook National Park, Queensland ** Springbrook State School, a heritage-listed building in the park ** Springbrook Road, a heritage-listed road Canada * Springbrook, ...

Athletic Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame in 2018.

Personal life

Rutten was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

While in Italy, she was in a relationship with

Alessandro Lambruschini Alessandro Lambruschini (born 7 January 1965) is an Italian former long-distance runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase Biography Lambruschini participated at three editions of the Summer Olympics (1988, 1992, 1996), he has 40 ca ...

, a

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

Career statistics

International

Honors

Club

Modena Femminile *

: 1997–98 Foroni Verona *

: 2002–03

International

United States * U.S. Cup:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutten, Jill 1968 births Living people Soccer players from Washington, D.C. American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate women's footballers in Japan American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in Italy American expatriate soccer players in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate women's footballers in Switzerland Women's association football midfielders NC State Wolfpack women's soccer players Fujita SC Mercury players Umeå IK players Nadeshiko League players Serie A (women's football) players Damallsvenskan players Frauen-Bundesliga players Swiss Women's Super League players Torino Women A.S.D. players FF Lugano 1976 players Foroni Verona FC players