Kaylyn McKenzie Kyle (born October 6, 1988) is a former Canadian

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 last 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 ...

for the Orlando Pride 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 Federati ...

. She was also a member of

Canada women's national soccer team The Canada women's national soccer team (french: Équipe du Canada féminine de soccer) represents Canada in international soccer competitions. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. The ...

, winning a bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, and is a Right To Play ambassador. She currently serves as a soccer broadcaster.

Early life

Born and raised in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Kyle attended Bishop Mahoney High School, where she helped the soccer team win both the city and provincial titles. Her father, Doug, was a professional hockey player and her mother, Pat, a competitive volleyball player. Her older sister Courtnee also played soccer at the national level. Kyle was named Saskatchewan Soccer Association Youth Female Player of The Year in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and Senior Female Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011.

University of Saskatchewan

Kyle attended the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

in 2006. In 2006, she played

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

(CIS) soccer at the university, making 14 appearances and scoring three goals with three assists. After only a year with the team, she was invited to play for the

and was offered a contract to play professionally in Sweden.

Playing career

Club

Vancouver Whitecaps

Kyle played a total of six seasons with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

from 2006 to 2012, not including 2009. During her inaugural W-League season in 2006, Kyle made one appearance for the Whitecaps for a total of 78 minutes. In 2007, she made eight appearances in her second season for the Whitecaps scoring one goal. During the 2008 season, Kyle made six appearances for the blue and white with two assists. In 2010, her fourth season with the Whitecaps, Kyle made five appearances tallying two assists. She had two playoff appearances for the team contributing one goal and one assist as the Whitecaps fell in the Championship final. In 2011, Kyle made three playoff appearances for the Whitecaps. She scored two goals during those appearances including the game-winning goal against arch-rival

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

to help the team clinch third place.

Piteå IF

In 2009, Kyle played with the Piteå IF in Sweden's top-flight women's league, Damallsvenskan. She made 13 appearances for the team, scoring one goal.

Seattle Reign FC

On January 11, 2013, as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, Kyle joined the Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). After playing a few games as a midfielder, Kyle shifted to a centre back position and helped strengthen a young defensive line. As a defender, Kyle was a leading scorer for the Reign scoring three goals on the season, all of them penalty kicks. Kyle made 21 appearances for the squad, starting in nineteen matches and tallying 1,752 minutes played.

Boston Breakers

On September 10, 2013, Seattle traded her to 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 ...

for fellow Canadian Carmelina Moscato.

Houston Dash

On April 29, 2014, Kyle was traded to 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 ...

for

Nikki Washington Madeline Nicole Washington (born August 1, 1988) is an American retired professional soccer forward and right midfielder who last played for Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and is currently an assistant coach for the ...

Portland Thorns

Kyle played 12 games for Portland in 2015.

Orlando Pride

On October 26, 2015, Kyle was acquired by the Orlando Pride along with Alex Morgan from Portland Thorns FC. In return, Portland received Orlando's rights to their first expansion draft selection. She made 17 appearances for the Pride before being released prior to the start of the 2017 season.

International

Kyle has represented Canada on the U-17 and U-20 youth teams. She participated at the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

twice in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. In 2008, she won her first cap for the senior team in a 4–0 loss to 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. At the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

, she was a member of the gold-winning team that defeated

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Kyle won bronze at the London

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, playing a prominent role throughout the tournament in Canada's midfield. Canada defeated

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

1–0 in the bronze medal game on August 9, 2012. She won her 100th cap with the senior national team at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

, during the round of 16 match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Kyle announced her retirement from international competition via social media on April 21, 2017.

Broadcasting career

Kyle became a broadcaster for TSN in 2017. She hit the headlines in June 2019 when she stated that Canada's rivals the US should not have celebrated whilst scoring the last few of their goals during the 13–0 defeat of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

during the Women's World Cup of that year. Kyle hosts for BeIN Sports regularly. She also serves as an analyst for broadcasts on the network. In 2020, she was announced to be the sideline reporter for Inter Miami CF.

Personal life

She married Harrison Heath in 2017. They welcomed their first child in June 2018, Hayden Jack Heath.

References

External links

* *
Thorns bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyle, Kaylyn 1988 births Living people Canadian people of Scottish descent Soccer people from Saskatchewan Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian women's soccer players Canada women's international soccer players Women's association football midfielders Vancouver Whitecaps FC (women) players Saskatchewan Huskies soccer players Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics National Women's Soccer League players Olympic soccer players of Canada Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Canada OL Reign players Piteå IF (women) players Damallsvenskan players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Canadian expatriates in Sweden Sportspeople from Saskatoon Houston Dash players Boston Breakers (NWSL) players Orlando Pride players Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States FIFA Century Club Pan American Games medalists in football Portland Thorns FC players Canadian sports announcers Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games