Shannon Higgins-Cirovski

Infobox Football biography
playername= Shannon Higgins-Cirovski
fullname = Shannon Danise Higgins-Cirovski
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1968|2|20
cityofbirth = Kent, Washington
countryofbirth = United States
height = height|ft=5|in=10
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1986-1989
youthclubs = North Carolina Tar Heels
years =
clubs =
caps(goals) =
nationalyears = 1987-1991
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 51 (4)
manageryears = 1990
1991-1997
1998
1999-2006
managerclubs = George Washington University (assistant)
George Washington University
U.S. U-18 Women
University of Maryland, College Park
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Shannon Higgins-Cirovski (born Kent, Washington) was a U.S. soccer midfielder who Higgins earned fifty-one caps with the United States between 1987 and 1991. She was a member of the U.S. team at the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

High school and college

Higgins grew up in Kent, Washington where she attended Mt. Ranier High School. She graduated from high school in 1986 and entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 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. 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 Herman Trophy. In 2000, she was named to the Soccer America College Team of the Century. Higgins graduated from UNC in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations.

National team

Higgins earned fifty-one caps with the United States between 1987 and 1991. Her greatest achievement came in the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup 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 goals.

Coach

Following her graduation from UNC in 1990, Higgins-Cirovski was hired as an assistant coach to the George Washington University 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. [ [http://gwsports.cstv.com/genrel/022503aaa.html Seven Colonials Inducted into GW Athletic Hall of Fame] ] 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 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, Sasah 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 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

* [http://www.soccerhall.org/famers/shan_higgins-cir.htm National Soccer Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.soccerhall.org/RNO%20-%20WATN/ShannonHiggins_WATN.htm Where Are They Now?]
* [http://umterps.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/higgins-cirovski_shannon00.html University of Maryland]