U.S. U-16s coach Ciara Crinion: Dubliner found her soccer path thanks to American college ball

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There was no girls soccer in Dublin when Ciara Crinion was growing up. So she played with boys.

At 7 years old they played in the park, using trees as goals. Then came club teams.

“I took a lot of stick for that,” she recalls. Fortunately, her mother supported her fully. (She also started the first girls team at their club.)

But at 12, girls were no longer allowed. So Crinion joined the one female side she could. They were U-18s.

Lacking any Irish female role models, Crinion emulated men in the Premier League. At last, when Arsenal launched one of the first major women’s squads, she had players like Ciara Grant and Yvonne Tracy to look up to. 

On visits to Ireland now, she is heartened to see many more opportunities for girls. She views them today with a professional eye: Crinion is the head coach of the U-16 US women’s national team. 

Despite playing for two years in the Arsenal Academy, Crinion’s soccer opportunities were limited. Women could not make a living playing professionally in Europe. Hoping to continue her career – and hearing there was college scholarship money available – she researched schools on the U.S. East Coast, closest to Ireland.

She “blindly” emailed Division I coaches. One who responded – Mick D’Arcy of Central Connecticut State University – had grown up 10 miles from Crinion’s hometown. He knew her background. And a CCSU assistant coach had played with Kelly Smith, at Arsenal.

Crinion was offered a full scholarship, and boarded a plane. “I knew nothing about the American college system,” she recalls. “I don’t think I could spell ‘Connecticut.’ But I could play for four more years!”

At the time, she did not realize how important her education would be (or how valuable a full scholarship was). 

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As her career (including two all-conference selections) wound down, knee injuries forced her to think about her post-playing future. An exercise science major, she found coaching to be a natural progression.

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“I couldn’t tell you what I’d be doing if I couldn’t coach,” she says. “That’s what I love about the U.S.: the opportunities for girls and women to play and coach.”

With few female mentors, Crinion learned the craft from a variety of male coaches in licensing courses. She spent eight years as an assistant at the University of Hartford, then was the head coach at Seton Hall University in 2019-22.

D’Arcy helped her find coaching opportunities where she could succeed. Gradually, she says, “I found who I was as a coach.”

She is “a teacher of the game.” Her goal is to create a learning environment that empowers players to “have fun, build confidence and resilience every moment they are on the field, and teach them to be learners who ask questions and love the game.”

She enjoys the U-16 age group because of their “coachability. They have such joy. A coach can impact them now, and in the future. They can’t see what’s in front of them. But a coach can.”

Competition is “in the DNA” of national youth team players,  Crinion says. Her job as U-16 coach is to channel and foster that spirit into their overall development. That means balancing “process goals” and “outcome goals.” Soccer is “not always about ‘right now,’” Crinion notes.

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Last year, she guided the U-15 girls to the Concacaf championship. “It was their first introduction to playing for hardware, to knockout games, and to the rivalries in the region.” The semifinal went to penalty kicks. “You can practice them all day, but nothing duplicates it while you’re wearing the crest – and wearing it for the first time. They started to see what it’s like to do that at an even higher level – the Olympics and World Cup.”

She is excited to be part of today’s national team staff. Under head coach Emma Hayes, there is a spirit of collaboration.

“She is a visionary leader for the entire Federation,” Crinion says. “It’s invaluable to have her at the top of the pyramid. She gives all of us clarity as to where we’re going. And she gives us energy.”

A saying stays with Crinion: “Respect the past, build for the future.” Her own past in Ireland was different from the girls she is coaching. In the U.S. today, they have many opportunities for high-level play, and a well-defined pathway forward..

Along with an experienced, well-regarded English leader, for those players – and their coaches – to follow.

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