Michele O'Brien (born 28 June 1980) is a

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former striker, who played for the W-League club

Chicago Red Eleven Chicago Red Eleven was an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2005. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Midwest Division ...

. Since making her debut for the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team ) , Association = Women's Football Association of Ireland , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Vera Pauw , Captain = Katie McCabe , Most caps = Emma Byrne (134) , Top scorer = Olivia ...

in 2003, she gained over 50

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

College career

O'Brien played varsity soccer during four seasons at

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

. She remains the program's all–time record goalscorer.

Club career

In 2000 O'Brien started playing for the

Long Island Lady Riders The Long Island Rough Riders, formerly known as the Long Island Lady Riders, is an American women's soccer team, based out of Long Island, New York. Founded in 1994, the team was under the ownership of Chuck Jacob, who at the time also owned the ...

. She remained with them until 2007, with a spell at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in 2003. During her time at the English club, O'Brien played in the Women's Premier League and the semi–final of the

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

. In 2007 O'Brien joined the

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 ...

club

QBIK QBIK is a Swedish football team from Karlstad. In 2005 they achieved promotion to the Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division ...

. She then spent time back in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with Watford Ladies, before joining

Jersey Sky Blue Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues was an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2006. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team p ...

for the 2008 W-League season. The following season O'Brien moved to

and scored four goals in 11 games in 2009. In 2010, she scored one goal in three games for the Red Eleven.

International career

O'Brien debuted for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

in 2003 and went on to accumulate more than 50 caps. In 2005 O'Brien was named the FAI Player of the Year.

Coaching career

O'Brien coached soccer at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(2004–2005) and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(2005–2007). She was named assistant soccer coach at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

in February 2009. She was promoted to head coach at DePaul in June 2021.

Personal life

Born with a congenital heart defect, in 1995 O'Brien suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

after a High School P.E. lesson and required

open heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

. She refused to quit soccer, reportedly telling her concerned parent: "Mom, I might as well die doing something I like".

References

External links

Michele O'Brien
at

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

Michele O'Brien
at FAI
Michele O'Brien
at

Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers FA Women's National League players 1980 births Living people Arsenal W.F.C. players People from Plainview, New York Soccer players from Nassau County, New York Expatriate women's footballers in England Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden QBIK players Damallsvenskan players Watford F.C. Women players Chicago Red Eleven players USL W-League (1995–2015) players American women's soccer players FIU Panthers women's soccer players Women's association football forwards Long Island Rough Riders (USL W League) players DePaul Blue Demons women's soccer coaches {{Ireland-women-footy-bio-stub