Heather Ann O'Reilly (born January 2, 1985) is an American professional

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 plays as a midfielder for Irish club Shelbourne of the Women's National League. She played 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 ...

(USWNT), with whom she won three Olympic gold medals and a

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing bod ...

. From 2003 to 2006, she played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Ki ...

for the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 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 ...

(UNC-CH). During her club career, O'Reilly played for the New Jersey Wildcats ( USL W-League), Sky Blue FC ( WPS),

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 ...

( WPSL Elite and

NWSL 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 Federatio ...

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champion ...

(NWSL),

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arse ...

(

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

), and the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York ...

(NWSL). Upon her initial retirement from international play in September 2016, she is one of the world's most capped soccer players with over 230 international appearances to her name. She is a skilled flank player, currently tied for fifth with

Julie Foudy Julie Maurine Foudy ( ; born January 23, 1971) is an American retired Association football, soccer midfielder, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She played for the United States women's national soccer ...

in USWNT history for assists. She is also the eighth most capped player in USWNT history. On October 27, 2019, she played her final match for the North Carolina Courage before retiring, winning the 2019 NWSL championship. She is currently an analyst for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

. O'Reilly announced on July 28, 2022, that she would be coming out of retirement to play for Women's National League side Shelbourne and take part in their upcoming UEFA Women's Champions League campaign. As of 2019, O'Reilly is a volunteer assistant coach for the UNC-CH women's soccer team

Early life

Born to Andrew and Carol O'Reilly, Heather O'Reilly is the youngest of four children. Growing up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, O'Reilly attended Saint Bartholomew's School and later played on the girls soccer team at

East Brunswick High School East Brunswick High School is a comprehensive public high school serving students in tenth through twelfth grades in East Brunswick Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of East Brunswick Public Schools ...

. In her four-year career, she scored 143 goals. As a junior in 2001, she led the team to the New Jersey state high school title. Throughout high school, O'Reilly was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

and played on the school's basketball team. During her senior year, she was named All-American and National Player of the Year by

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

. In 2002, she was named the Gatorade High School National Player of the Year and the National Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year. She was also named by Soccer America as the top college recruit in the country.

North Carolina Tar Heels, 2003–06

O'Reilly was an education major at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC S ...

, where she played forward for the North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer program from 2003 through 2006. She appeared 97 times for the Tar Heels, scoring 59 goals and assisting on 49 others. She led her team to the national Championships in 2003 and 2006. During her senior year, '' ESPN the Magazine'' named her the All-American Player of the Year and was awarded the NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award following her senior year. As a senior, she won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

as the nation's top soccer player. In 2006, O'Reilly's No. 20 jersey was retired by the program, joining athletes

April Heinrichs April Dawn Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former soccer player and coach. She was among the first players on the United States women's national soccer team, and was captain of the United States team which won the first ever FI ...

Lorrie Fair Lorraine Ming Fair (born August 5, 1978) is a retired American professional soccer midfielder who was a member of the World Cup Champion United States national soccer team. Over the span of ten years, she was a part of one World Cup Team and ...

Tisha Venturini Tisha Lea Venturini-Hoch (; born March 3, 1973) is a former American soccer player and current National Spokesperson for Produce for Better Health. She is a gold medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a world champion in the 1999 FIFA Women' ...

, Kristine Lilly and Mia Hamm, along with 13 others.

Club career

New Jersey Wildcats, 2004–2005

O'Reilly played for New Jersey Wildcats of W-League from 2004 to 2005, winning the Championship in 2005.

Sky Blue FC, 2009–2011

O'Reilly was allocated to Sky Blue FC of

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

on September 16, 2008, along with fellow U.S. national team players Natasha Kai and

Christie Rampone Christie Patricia Pearce (formerly Rampone; born June 24, 1975) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. She is the former captain of the United States national team. Pearce is a three-time Olympic gold medal ...

. She appeared in 17 matches as co-captain during the 2009 inaugural season, leading Sky Blue to an unexpected playoff berth. During the Championship 2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs match against

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, she scored the only goal helping her team clinch the Championship title.

Boston Breakers, 2012–2014

Following her husband's enrollment in

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

, O'Reilly trained with and played two matches with the

of the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite in 2012 after the WPS folded and during breaks with her national team duties. She was allocated to the Breakers in 2013 at the initiation of the new

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 ...

FC Kansas City, 2015–2016

On October 27, 2014,

announced that it had acquired O'Reilly in a trade that sent

Morgan Marlborough Morgan Brooke Marlborough (born December 3, 1990) is an American soccer player. She previously played for the Boston Breakers and FC Kansas City of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and Glasgow City F.C. in the Scottish Women's Premier L ...

and Kassey Kallman to the Breakers.

Arsenal, 2017–2018

On January 18, 2017,

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 mostl ...

announced they had signed O'Reilly. The club is a member of the top division of the Football Association

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

, the highest level of women's professional soccer in England. After 38 appearances in all competitions and four goals, it was confirmed by Arsenal that she would leave the club in the summer of 2018.

North Carolina Courage, 2018–2019

After FC Kansas City ceased operations, the Utah Royals FC maintained O'Reilly's NWSL rights. On June 28, 2018, the Courage traded Makenzy Doniak and a 2019 3rd round pick for O'Reilly and a 2019 2nd round pick. O'Reilly appeared in 8 regular season games and both playoff games for the Courage. North Carolina won the NWSL Shield & NWSL Championship. North Carolina participated in the

2018 Women's International Champions Cup The 2018 International Champions Cup Women's Tournament was the first edition of a series of friendly women's association football matches. It took place from July 26 to 29, 2018. For the first time, the ICC included a women's tournament. Nearl ...

, O'Reilly started in the Championship Game and scored a goal in the 10th minute. The Courage defeated

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

1–0 to win the inaugural edition of the tournament. On April 12, 2019, O'Reilly announced via social media that she would retire from professional soccer at the conclusion of the

2019 NWSL Season The 2019 National Women's Soccer League season was the seventh season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer ( ...

Shelbourne, 2022

On July 28, 2022, O'Reilly announced that she would be coming out of retirement to play for Irish champions Shelbourne, fulfilling her dream of playing in the UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL). During her participation at Soccer Aid 2022,

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

had suggested O'Reilly continue her playing career, which prompted her to look for a suitable UWCL club. She found Shelbourne's offer attractive because she is an

Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

. O'Reilly made her Shelbourne debut on July 30, 2022, against

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 19 ...

. On August 18, 2022, O'Reilly started for Shelbourne in their UEFA Women's Champions League qualifier against Slovenian side Pomurje. O'Reilly scored the only goal of the game, a header in the fourth minute. Following Shelbourne's elimination from the UEFA Women's Champions League, O'Reilly took temporary leave of the team, stating that she would be "joining back with the team later

n the N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

season." O'Reilly joined back up with Shelbourne in October 2022, returning to action in the side's 2-0 victory against

. O'Reilly enjoyed playing for Shelbourne and was pleased to contribute to their 2022 Women's National League title win: "I didn't think that the team would mean so much to me, and that I would really want to come back and help them win the league. I kept an eye on things when I went back home and, when the title race was heating up, I wanted to come back and help in any way that I could." She also made a substitute appearance in the 2022 FAI Women's Cup Final, as Shelbourne beat

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pla ...

2–0 to secure a League and Cup

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

International career (2002–16)

In 2002, while still in high school, O'Reilly was named to the U.S. national team. O'Reilly made her first appearance with the

on March 1, 2002, against

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 countries, Nordic c ...

2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup

O'Reilly was a key member of USA's U-19 winning team, scoring four goals and created seven. This helped the USA youth to win their first World Championship ever for this level.

2004 Athens Olympics

After recovering from a broken

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity ...

from a match the year before, O'Reilly made the national team roster for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens. At nineteen years old, she was the youngest player on the roster. On August 23, 2004, she scored the match winning goal in the Olympic semi-final match against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, propelling the United States into the final, in which they 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 ...

for the gold medal.

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup

In the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, O'Reilly scored a critical goal against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

in the 69th minute, which tied the match at 2–2 and saved the Americans from a devastating opening-round loss. The United States ended up taking the bronze medal, with O'Reilly scoring a goal during the 4–1 win against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. She was nominated as ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

s 2007 Sportsman of the Year.

2008 Beijing Olympics

O'Reilly competed at the Beijing

2008 Summer Olympic games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

. She scored the quickest goal in Olympic women's soccer history against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

to advance to the quarterfinals. She also scored a goal in the semi-final match against Japan. The team went on to defeat heavy-favorites Brazil 1–0 to win the gold medal. Prior to the Summer Games, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine ranked her number 15 on its list of 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch.

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

O'Reilly was selected for the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event ...

and in the second match of the group stage scored the first of three goals for USA against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

2012 London Olympics

At the

2012 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, the ...

in London, she made a crucial assist in the 123rd minute of the semi-final match against

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 to ...

, sending a cross from the right to Alex Morgan who headed the ball into the goal over the hand of

Erin McLeod Erin Katrina McLeod (born February 26, 1983) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Stjarnan of the Icelandic Besta deild kvenna. She first appeared for the Canada women's national soccer team at the 2002 Algarve Cup and ...

, propelling team USA to the gold medal match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

O'Reilly was selected for her third World Cup in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. She did not appear in any games during the tournament but became a World Cup Champion on July 5, when the United States defeated Japan 5–2 in the Women's World Cup final. O'Reilly joined the national team on a Victory Tour following their World Cup win.

2016 Rio Olympics

To some controversy, she was left off the team by

Jill Ellis Jillian Anne Ellis (born 6 September 1966) is an English-American soccer coach and executive who is currently the president of San Diego Wave FC. Ellis coached the United States women's national soccer team from 2014 to October 2019 and won two ...

and made an alternate for the 2016 Rio Olympics even with having the most caps of the squad at the time (229). The U.S. national team went on to achieve its worst ever Olympic finish, being knocked out by Sweden in the quarter-finals.

Retirement, 2016

On September 1, 2016, O'Reilly announced her retirement from the Women's National Team after 15 years. She retired on September 15 after a friendly match against

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 ...

, held in Columbus, Ohio, after the USWNT scored 9 goals.

International goals

Assists made in international matches

Heather O'Reilly is among the top ten players of

in providing assists.

Honors

College

Women's College Cup The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

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 ...

: 2006–07

Club

Sky Blue FC *WPS Championship:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

FC Kansas City * NWSL Champions:

Arsenal *

FA WSL Cup The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. P ...

: 2017–18 North Carolina Courage * NWSL Champions:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a m ...

Shelbourne FC * WNL Champions: 2022 *

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in the Republic of Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI ...

: 2022

International

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece be ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

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; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

* FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Individual

* NWSL Second Best XI: 2014 * FIFA Puskas Award Nominee: 2011 * WPS All-Star Team:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* MVP, WPS Championship Game: 2009 * WPS All-Star team selection: 2009, 2010 *

Soccer America Player of the Year Award Beginning in 1984, Soccer America Magazine began naming a college player of the year. At the time ''Soccer America'' was the best source for U.S. soccer, especially collegiate soccer which was rarely covered by the national news services. Conseq ...

: 2006 * College Cup Offensive MVP: 2003, 2006 * ACC Offensive Player of the Year: 2005 * ESPN the Magazine All-Academic Player of the Year: 2006 * Gatorade National High School Girls' Soccer Player of the Year: 2002 * For their first match of March 2019, the women of the

each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; Kelley O'Hara chose the name of Heather O'Reilly.

Endorsements

O'Reilly has endorsement deals with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacture ...

. In 2013, she appeared in a commercial for Adidas' Adizero™ running shoe.

In popular culture

Magazines

In 2008, ''

'' listed profiled O'Reilly as the No. 15 Olympic Athlete to Watch in their list of 100 Olympic Athletes To Watch. She has been featured in '' Fitness'',

Shape A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type. A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie ...

, ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since 2015, following ...

'', ''

'', and '' Boston Magazine''.

Video Games

O'Reilly was featured along with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series in ''

FIFA 16 ''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS. The ga ...

'', the first time women players were included in the game.

Ticker tape parade and White House honors

Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, O'Reilly and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a

ticker tape parade A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker ta ...

in New York City. Each player received a key to the city from Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Y ...

. In October of the same year, the team was honored by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

at the White House.

Television and film

O'Reilly has made appearances with her national teammates on ''Late Night with David Letterman'', ''The Today Show'', ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' and ''Good Morning America''. She was featured in the film, ''Winning Isn't Everything'' about the women's soccer program at the University of North Carolina.

Radio and other media

O'Reilly began cohosting the BBC World Service's BBC World Football program with Mani Djazmi, Pat Nevin, and Peter Odemwingie when the program changed formats in 2018.

Personal life

O'Reilly married former North Carolina Tar Heels men's lacrosse, UNC lacrosse player Dave Werry in 2011, whom she met when the two attended UNC. Their son William was born in 2020. O'Reilly gave birth to their 2nd child, Jack, on 26 November 2021. She is nicknamed "HAO," the initials of her name (Heather Ann O'Reilly) and pronounced 'hey-oh'.\

References

Match reports

External links

* * *
Arsenal L.F.C player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Heather 1985 births Living people Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) East Brunswick High School alumni People from East Brunswick, New Jersey Sportspeople from New Brunswick, New Jersey Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States United States women's international soccer players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sky Blue FC (WPS) players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics American women's soccer players FIFA Century Club 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Soccer players from New Jersey USL W-League (1995–2015) players Boston Breakers (WPSL Elite) players National Women's Soccer League players Boston Breakers (NWSL) players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Women's association football midfielders FC Kansas City players New Jersey Wildcats players Arsenal W.F.C. players Women's Super League players North Carolina Courage players American soccer commentators Women association football commentators Association football commentators Women's Professional Soccer players Shelbourne F.C. (women) players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate women's association footballers in Ireland Women's National League (Ireland) players American people of Irish descent