[U.S. SOCCER] Former U.S. women’s national team captain and coach April Heinrichs and UCLA women’s coach
Heinrichs will focus on the technicaldirection for women’s soccer and oversee the U-20s and U-18s. Ellis will work with coaches of major youth clubs and direct the U-17s, U-15s and U-14s.
“I am extremely pleasedthat April and Jill have joined our women’s national team program,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati in a statement. “We have twovastly experienced coaches who have the knowledge and the tools to focus heavily on the development of girls’ soccer in the United States.”
Heinrichs was head coach of thenational team for five seasons (2000-2004) and led the USA to the 2004 Olympic gold medal in Greece, a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Australia and a third-place finish at the 2003 Women’sWorld Cup in the USA.
Ellis has coached the U.S. U-21s during two different stints in 2000 and 2005, coached the U.S. U-20s in 2007, but left that job in 2008 to become an assistant coachunder Pia Sundhage for the Olympics and coaching the U-20s again in 2009-10, leading them to quarterfinals at the 2010 U-20 Women’s World Cup inGermany.
Ellis owned a 229-45-14 record in 12 seasons at UCLA, where assistant head coach B.J. Snow has replaced her.
Ellis took the Westwood job in 1999,guided UCLA to the 2000 NCAA final and led the Bruins to seven straight College Cup (2003-09). They also reached the final in 2004 and 2005 but never won the title.
It is simple. Youth soccer has gone down the tubes with all the so called “professional” coaches that are more concerned with making money off of kids playing a game, opposed to teaching the kids how to play and have fun. Soccer is becoming an upper middle class sport. Hence, we are losing a large potential player pool. We will never have a “Michael Jordan” in soccer, because we limit his or her ability to play the game. Club soccer is killing soccer in the long term. Leave club soccer to the MLS teams and give the “game” back to the kids.
It is simple. Youth soccer has gone down the tubes with all the so called “professional” coaches that are more concerned with making money off of kids playing a game, opposed to teaching the kids how to play and have fun. Soccer is becoming an upper middle class sport. Hence, we are losing a large potential player pool. We will never have a “Michael Jordan” in soccer, because we limit his or her ability to play the game. Club soccer is killing soccer in the long term. Leave club soccer to the MLS teams and give the “game” back to the kids.