Michelle Ann French (born January 27, 1977) is an American soccer

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

for the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

. She is a former

player and received a silver medal as a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team.

Early life

Born in Ft. Lewis, Washington, French was a two-time Parade High School All-America at Kennedy High School in Burien, Washington.

Playing career

Collegiate

French attended the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

from 1995 to 1999 where she was a four-year starter for the University of Portland Pilots Women's Soccer Team. At Portland, she appeared in three

Final Fours This is a list of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four participants (a third-place game was played from 1946 to 1981). Participants Teams marked with an * vacated its Final Four appearances due to violations of National ...

and was a first-time All-American. In 1997 she was a nominee and a finalist in 1998 for the Hermann Award for the National Player of the Year.

Club

French played for the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Uni ...

in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2001. She played with the San Jose CyberRays from 2002 to 2003. French played in the W-League with the

Seattle Sounders Women Sound Football Club is an American women's soccer team in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Sound FC play its home games at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Washington, six miles south of downtown Seattle. The team was founded in 2000 as Sea ...

in 2004, 2006–2009.

International

French was a member of the U-21 National Team from 1994 to 1999. She captained the team at the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Nordic Cup competitions which the U.S. won in 1997 and 1999. She was called up to the

and earned her first cap on May 11, 1997 against England.

Coaching

French holds a USSF National "A" coaching license and has several years coaching experience at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. In 2012, it was announced that she had signed a two-year contract as head coach for the

. In February 2013, Michelle French joined USSF as a coach for

United States women's national under-20 soccer team The United States U-20 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the senior women's national team. The team most recently ...

. She worked on all aspects of the United States under-20 women's national team program and also worked with under-18 and under-17 women's national teams. French prepared the under-20 team for the

2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was an international association football tournament and the world championship for women's national teams under the age of 20, presented by Grant Connell, organized by the sport's world governing body FIFA. I ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, in which the team failed to win a medal. In February 2017, US Soccer reassigned her to be a full-time assistant coach for the senior women's national team. On December 15, 2017, the University of Portland, French's alma mater, announced she had been hired to replace Garret Smith as head coach of their women's soccer program, the Portland Pilots.

Honors

Michelle was awarded a Golden Scarf by the Seattle Sounders FC on June 5, 2010.

References

External links

CNN Sports Illustrated: 2000 US Women's National Soccer Team

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Michelle Living people American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States Olympic silver medalists for the United States in soccer Portland Pilots women's soccer players Washington Freedom players San Jose CyberRays players 1977 births Soccer players from Washington (state) Seattle Sounders Women players Women's association football midfielders Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics UCLA Bruins women's soccer coaches Portland Pilots women's soccer coaches American soccer coaches Sportspeople from the Seattle metropolitan area People from Fort Lewis, Washington Washington Huskies women's soccer coaches Seattle Sounders FC non-playing staff