Shannon Danise Higgins-Cirovski (; born February 20, 1968) is a former U.S. soccer

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 ...

who earned fifty-one

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 Ja ...

with 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 territori ...

between 1987 and 1991. She was a member of the U.S. team at the

1991 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It took place in Guangdong, China from 16 to 30 November 1991. FIFA, football's international gove ...

and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

High school and college

Higgins grew up in Kent, Washington, where she attended

Mount Rainier High School Mount Rainier High School is a secondary school in Des Moines, Washington, United States; named for Mount Rainier which can be seen quite well from the school on a clear day. Mount Rainier serves approximately 1700 students and has been active sin ...

. She graduated from high school in 1986 and entered 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 States ...

that fall, playing on the women's soccer team from 1986 to 1989. During those four seasons, UNC-Chapel Hill won four consecutive

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

. Higgins scored the game-winning goal in the last three championship games. She was a two-time first team All American (1988 and 1989) and the recipient of numerous awards including the 1988 and 1989 ''Soccer America'' Player of the Year, 1989 ISAA Player of the Year and the 1989 Hermann Trophy. She won the Honda Sports Award as the nations's top soccer player at the end of the 1989–90 season. In 2000, she was named to the

Soccer America College Team of the Century The ''Soccer America'' College Team of the Century were chosen by the editors of the American periodical '' Soccer America'' to comprise, as one men's and one women's eleven-member side divided each as one goalkeeper, three defenders, four midfiel ...

. Higgins graduated from UNC in 1990 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in industrial relations.

National team

Higgins earned fifty-one

with the

between 1987 and 1991. Her greatest achievement came in the

when her playmaking skills were a central part of the U.S.'s championship run. In the 2–1 final, Higgins assisted on both of

Michelle Akers Michelle Anne Akers (formerly Akers-Stahl; born February 1, 1966) is an American former soccer player who starred in the 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup and 1996 Olympics victories by the United States. At the 1991 World Cup, she won the Golden ...

goals.

Coach

Following her graduation from UNC in 1990, Higgins-Cirovski was hired as an assistant coach to the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

women's soccer team. In 1992, she was elevated to the position of head coach, taking the team to a 69–59–11 record before resigning in 1997. She was inducted into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.Seven Colonials Inducted into GW Athletic Hall of Fame
/ref> In 1998, Higgins-Cirovski served as the head coach of the U.S. U-18 women's national team. On January 13, 1999, she was hired as the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

women's soccer team, a position she held until resigning in 2006. She had a 62–51–10 (.549) record over her six seasons. Her husband, Sasho Cirovski, coaches the school's men's soccer team.

Broadcaster

In 2001, Higgins-Cirovski was a color commentator for the television broadcasts of 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 ...

of the WUSA. She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2002. That year, the Atlantic Coast Conference named her to its list of the Top 50 ACC Athletes in the first fifty years of the conference's existence.

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins-Cirovski, Shannon 1968 births Living people United States women's international soccer players North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players American women's soccer coaches George Washington Colonials women's soccer coaches Maryland Terrapins women's soccer coaches 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players Sportspeople from Kent, Washington Soccer players from Washington (state) FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players American women's soccer players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Women's association football midfielders Hermann Trophy women's winners