Get to Know: Kristine Lilly

Kristine Lilly is often referred to as the USA’s Iron Woman, and for a good reason. Not only has she played in 342 matches for the USA (the most capped player on the world) and scored 129 goals in her national team career, but she has played on both professional leagues that have existed in the US and she has done it all over the course of more than 20 years (her first international appearance was in August 3, 1987). Can you think of any other athlete who’s had a professional career of 20 years?

She has won 2 World Cups, participating in 5, and 2 Olympic gold medals, participating in 3. She was an all-star with the Boston Breakers in the WUSA (2001-2003), and she is now playing for the Boston Breakers in WPS. She was a four time NCAA champion at UNC, and helped her high school team to 3 State championships.

Kristine was the captain of the national team from 2005-2007, but took 2008 off to have her baby girl, Sydney. Later that year she came back  to the field as she was allocated to the Boston Breakers. She started all 20 matches for the Breakers, the only player on the team to do so, and led the team in minutes played with 1,800. She was voted to the All-Star team where she started and scored a goal helping the team to a 4-2 win over opponent Umea IK.

You can certainly say that Kristine is one of the world’s greatest athletes, but she’s not done yet. As she is preparing for another season with the Breakers, she took the time to answer some questions, posted below.

What was your favorite moment/experience while at UNC?

I don’t think I have one moment that was my favorite but the best part was the great friends I made there.  Plus the education I got and winning 4 national championships were also good.

Do you intend to play in the 2011 World Cup or 2012 Olympics?

I haven’t been asked back up to the national team. So really it is in the hands of the U.S. coach.

Who on the national team is the most difficult to go one-on-one with?

Back in the day Joy Fawcett was always difficult to go up against.  Now Christie Rampone, Kate Markgraf and Amy LePeilbet were all difficult.

What does it mean to you, as a player and a person, to hold the world record for international appearances representing your country?

I am just really proud to have played in so many games.  That means I worked hard to remain a starter and be healthy to participate in so many games.

Do you think anyone will ever get more caps for their country than you have for the USA?

I’m not sure about that, but records are always made to be broken.

Who is the most difficult player from another country that you’ve ever had to play against?

Hege Riise, a player from Norway. She was very good.

If you could participate on any game show, which one would it be and why?

I always wanted to be on Family Feud.

Growing up, what was your favorite TV show to watch?

Happy Days.

If you didn’t play soccer for a living, what would you be doing instead?

I’m not sure. I love to take pictures, maybe a photographer.

I’ve read on your website that you took some cooking classes with your husband. What is your best dish?

My best dish now, is probably the mac & cheese I learned how to cook, by Ellie Deaner.

Do you have a hidden talent?

I can touch my tongue to my nose.

What is the craziest, most thrilling thing you’ve ever done?

I almost hiked to the top of Kilimanjaro.  Missed the summit by about 1500 feet.  I got altitude sickness.

Has your little one shown any interest for soccer?

She can kick a ball.

What do you like to do when you’re not training?

Play with my daughter and take a long walk with my dog.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Chocolate chip ice cream

What was your first car?

Passat

You’re first appearance for the USA was in 1987, more than 20 years ago, and you’ve been playing ever since you were a little kid- pretty much your entire life. How have you been able to play at the highest level for so long?

I just worked hard.  I made sure I was always fit.  I learned how to take care of myself but I also had fun with the people I played with, which made me want to work for them and vice versa.

This one is just for laughs. Do you think Sidney and the other WNT babies (the girls) will be the future of the national team?

It would be interesting to see one day what they all decide to do with their lives.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I think I would want people to know I went out there every day and worked hard and played for my teammates and to be the best!

What are your thoughts on the next WPS season?

Hopefully we can win in Boston!

(Ed. Note: Be sure to follow Kristine on her website www.KristineLilly13.com)

Kristine Lilly back in the saddle for final matches of the year

December 10, 2008 – U.S. legend Kristine Lilly trained with the U.S. National Team today for the first time since October of 2007. The only woman in history to play in five Women’s World Cup tournaments took most of 2008 off to have her first child, a baby girl, who was born last June.

The Women’s National Soccer Team is back together for the last stops of its post-Olympic Achieve Your Gold tour.  They start a week-long training camp today at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

The team started its historic year in China at the Four Nations Tournament, capped its run of five tournament titles this year at the Olympics in China, and will now end the year against China with matches at The HDC on Dec. 13 and in Detroit at Ford Field on Dec. 17.

The current USA roster includes 22 players, but injuries and illness have reduced the number of players available to head coach Pia Sundhage.

Forward Natasha Kai, the USA’s leading scorer this year with 15 goals, will miss the trip due to illness. Forward Lauren Cheney will also not join the team due to the battering her body took during the just completed college season as well as her preparation for final exams at UCLA. Midfielder Aly Wagner and defender Stephanie Cox are with the U.S. team in camp, but injuries to a calf and hamstring respectively have ruled them out of the matches.

So why is Kristine Lilly, who is now a mother and the oldest member of the U.S. team, returning to competition at age 37? Lilly will suit up with the Boston Breakers this spring in the debut season of the new U.S. women’s pro soccer league, Women’s Professional Soccer. She resumed soccer training in September and expects to play a strong role in the upcoming games against China. If she continues to play, Lilly will be 40 when the next World Cup takes place in 2011 and 41 at the 2012 London Olympics. Obviously this lady loves the game.

WNT nuggets from this historic year:
The USA set a record for most wins in a year in the 24-year history of the program and is now 31-1-2.

The only loss was in the opening game of the 2008 Olympics, from which the U.S. team famously rebounded to win the gold medal.

If the team wins or ties the two games against China, it will also set a record for best winning percentage in a year that it played more than 10 matches.

US soccer players allocated to women’s pro league

Boston Head Coach Tony DiCicco (far left) and WPS Part Owner and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash (far right) pose with the Breakers three allocated players: Heather Mitts, Angela Hucles and Kristine Lilly. (Women’s Professional Soccer)

September 16, 2008 – Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) announced the allocations of the U.S. Women’s National Team to its seven franchises Tuesday during a ceremony at the Sports Museum of America in downtown Manhattan.

The announcement was hosted by NBA All-Star and WPS part-owner Steve Nash and presided over by WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. Each of the seven teams set to begin play in WPS for the 2009 season were allocated three players apiece from the U.S. Women’s National Team pool. The allocation followed an extensive process in which the players and teams submitted their preferences to the league and a committee then examined the lists to give its recommendations. The WPS Board of Governors met on September 14-15 to consult with players, teams and the league to determine the best possible dispersal for all parties with the following allocation results:

WPS Player Allocations – U.S. Women’s National Team

WPS Team	Players Listed in Alphabetical Order
Bay Area	Nicole Barnhart	Rachel Buehler	Leslie Osborne
Boston Breakers	Angela Hucles	Kristine Lilly	Heather Mitts
Chicago Red Stars	Carli Lloyd	Kate Markgraf	Lindsay Tarpley
Los Angeles	Shannon Boxx	Stephanie Cox	Aly Wagner
Sky Blue FC	Natasha Kai	Heather O’Reilly	Christie Rampone
St. Louis	Lori Chalupny	Tina Ellertson	Hope Solo
Washington Freedom	Ali Krieger	Abby Wambach	Cat Whitehill

  Read more

Kristine Lilly takes on new starring role: Mom

September 13, 2008 – When the U.S. women’s soccer team won Olympic gold last month, former captain Kristine Lilly watched from her couch.

A mainstay on the national team since 1987, the 37-year-old Lilly missed the Summer Games for the first time since soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996. She had a good excuse though — on July 22, her birthday, Lilly gave birth to her first child,  daughter Sidney Marie Heavey.

Entering 2008, Lilly had played with the Americans in every major tournament — a list that included all five World Cups and all three Olympic Games. But Lilly became pregnant following the 2007 World Cup last fall and announced she was stepping away from the U.S. team.

Lilly is joining other teammates who have taken on the role of mom including Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett Carla Overbeck, and Christie Rampone who all have y oung daughters of their own (yeah we know – girls kick grass!). Can’t wait to see what the 2027 Women’s World Cup team looks like!

Lilly’s break won’t last long, however. She is planning to resume training in preparation for the WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer), the seven-team league that debuts next April.

Lilly was one of the founding players in the first women’s professional league, WUSA (Women’s United Soccer Association), playing for the Boston Breakers. The Breakers will return for the inaugural WPS season, and Lilly is hoping to be allocated to the Boston franchise, which is close to her home in Brookline, Mass. She is also open to the possibility of returning to the national team.

For the time being, Lilly will focus on getting into playing shape and enjoying her new role as mom.

According to her hometown newspaper, the Wilton Bulletin,

“It’s probably the hardest job I’ve had in my life,” she said. “But I can tell already that it’s going to be the most rewarding.”

Defender Christie Rampone named Captain of U.S. Women’s National Team

January 16, 2008  – The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team started the year 2008 with a new Captain.  Head coach Pia Sundhage has named defender Christie Rampone as the team’s new leader. 

Rampone, the most capped player on the USA’s roster for the 2008 Four Nations Tournament in China, has played 176 games for the USA. She succeeds Kristine Lilly, who has stepped away from soccer to have a baby.

Rampone has quietly built one of the most impressive international careers in U.S. history, starting 148 of the 176 games she has played while appearing in the past three Women’s World Cups and two Olympic Games. She remains the only player in history to make an impact on the National Team after coming out of a small soccer school, that being Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Rampone becomes just the ninth official captain of the U.S. National Team in the 23-year history of the program, joining Denise Bender, April Heinrichs, Lori Henry, Michelle Akers, Carla Overbeck, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett and Lilly.

With Christie wearing the captain’s band, the team started the new year in style, scoring four goals in a 28-minute span during the second half – two each from forward Amy Rodriguez and midfielder Lindsay Tarpley – to defeat regional rival Canada, 4-0, in the opening match of the 2008 Four Nations Tournament in Guangzhou, China.

WNT: Squad announced for Four Nations Tournament

Jan. 11, 2008 – The US Women’s National team will return to China for their first competition under head coach Pia Sundhage and their seventh appearance in the annual Four Nations Tournament. The Americans will play Canada, Finland, and China at the round-robin competition, which runs Jan. 16-20 in Foshan, China.

The squad includes most of the starters from last year’s World Cup except Kristine Lilly, who announced her pregnancy earlier this week. There is also room for four uncapped players who will be hoping to earn a place in the Olympic squad: defender Becky Sauerbrunn (Virginia) and midfielders Tina DiMartino (UCLA), Tobin Heath (North Carolina), and Ali Krieger (Penn State).

The Four Nations matches will be the first of 2008 for the U.S. women and first under Sundhage, who was hired in November.

Kristine Lilly poised for fifth World Cup

Sept. 5, 2007 – The forward known as the “Iron Woman,” Kristine Lilly, is team captain of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team. She has started every match that the USA women have ever played in World Cup or Olympic competition and is the only remaining member of the WNT that first formed back in the ’80s.

Now she’s in China preparing for the three-week, 16-team tournament that begins with the team’s Sept. 11 showdown against fifth-ranked North Korea. While many predicted that the team would slump without veterans like Foudy and Hamm, Lilly and the team’s next generation have a 37-1-6 mark and have regained the No. 1 ranking in the world.

Flash back to the World Cup eight summers ago. When the American women’s soccer team won the championship, it was Brandi Chastain and Mia Hamm who got all the press. Kristine Lilly was the quiet one. But today Lilly is the one getting the lion share’s of attention. Most extraordinary is that at 36 and after a 20-year tenure, she remains at the top of her game and is, arguably, the greatest women’s soccer player in history. Read more