April Heinrichs

Infobox Football biography
playername= April Heinrichs
fullname = April Heinrichs
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1964|2|27
cityofbirth = Denver, Colorado
countryofbirth = United States
height =
currentclub = Retired
clubnumber =
position =
youthyears = 19??-1986
youthclubs = University of North Carolina
nationalyears = 1986-1991
nationalteam = U.S. women's national team
nationalcaps(goals) = 47(38)
manageryears = 1990
1991-1995
1996-1999
1995-2000
2000-2005
2006
managerclubs = Princeton University
University of Maryland
University of Virginia
U.S. women's national team "(assistant)"
U.S. women's national team
University of California Irvine

April Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964 in Denver, Colorado) 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 FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991. She finished her international playing career with 47 caps and 38 goals. In 1998 she became the first female player inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Collegiate Record

Heinrichs is a 1986 graduate of the University of North Carolina where she was named National Player of the Year twice and earned All-American First team honors three times.

College Head Coach

She had an 8-6-1 record as head coach at Princeton University in 1990.

Heinrichs guided University of Maryland to a 56-40-7 record from 1991-95, earning Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1995 after leading the Terps to their first NCAA Tournament berth.

She was head coach from 1996-99 at University of Virginia, where she recorded a 52-27-7 mark in leading the Cavaliers to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She led Virginia to a 13-10 record, including a trip to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 1999 season.

Coaching U.S. Women's National Team

She joined the United States womens national team as an assistant coach in 1995. She later became the team's head coach upon Tony DiCicco's retirement in 2000.

During her tenure, Heinrichs was often criticized for failing to lead the previously unstoppable national squad to a major international championship until the 2004 Summer Olympics. While she did lead the United States to wins in international tournaments such as the Algarve Cup, her team failed to win in the 2000 Summer Olympics or 2003 Women's World Cup, despite the unexpected home field advantage gained when the tournament was moved to the United States from China due to the SARS outbreak.

Because of her sparse success record (despite an 87-17-20 record), and gossip regarding her strained relationship with team members, Heinrichs' tenure as US coach was long rumored to be questionable. One notable player who reportedly had a falling-out with Heinrichs was Tiffeny Milbrett, who was removed from the national team setup in 2003, and did not return until after Heinrichs left the coaching job. Heinrichs resigned as coach on February 15, 2005 and became a consultant for U.S. Soccer.

Present Day

She was named head coach for women's soccer at the University of California Irvine on December 19, [2005] but resigned to accept a staff position with the U.S. Olympics in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The University of California, Irvine hired her very capable and highly successful assistant, Scott Juniper, to be the next head coach for the women's soccer program at UC-Irvine.

External links

* [http://www.soccerhall.org/famers/april_heinrichs.htm National Soccer Hall of Fame biography]
* [http://www.wsoccer.uci.edu/ UCI Women's Soccer]
* [http://soccertimes.com/usteams/roster/women/heinrichs.htm/ Profile at SoccerTimes.com]