Tobin Heath

Tobin Heath

Tobin Heath during PSG-Juvisy in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Tobin Powell Heath
Date of birth	(1988-05-29) May 29, 1988
Place of birth	Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Paris Saint-Germain
Youth career
2006–2010	North Carolina Tar Heels
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2005	New Jersey Wildcats	7	(1)
2007	Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues	5	(5)
2009	Pali Blues	6	(1)
2010	Atlanta Beat	3	(0)
2011	Sky Blue FC	12	(0)
2012	New York Fury	1	(0)
2013–	Paris Saint-Germain	7	(2)
National team‡
2008–	United States	67	(8)
Honours Women's football Competitor for the United States Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Team competition Gold 2012 London Team competition FIFA Women's World Cup Silver 2011 Germany Team competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 19, 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of April 9, 2013

Tobin Powell Heath (born May 29, 1988) is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and FIFA Women's World Cup silver medal winning soccer player for the United States. According to United States Soccer Federation, Heath is “perhaps the USA's most skillful player”. Heath usually plays as a flank midfielder or the attacking midfielder. Heath was the first overall pick in Women's Professional Soccer 2010 draft and currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain Ladies.

Early life

Heath was born in Morristown, New Jersey to parents Jeff and Cindy Heath. She grew up in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Heath has a younger brother, Jeffrey, and two older sisters, Perry and Katie, who are active in Athletes for Action and Champions for Christ. Heath has said herself she is a proud and devout follower of her Christian faith and is very close to her family Her oldest sister, Katie, played NCAA Division-1 tennis for the University of Delaware. Heath has said she enjoys playing a multitude of sports, such as tennis and surfing, and enjoys playing outside when given the time and opportunity. Tobin was named after her great grandmother's last name.

Tobin Heath after the National Championship game at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, NC on Sunday, December 3, 2006.

High school

Heath graduated from Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey in 2006, where she was four-year letter winner and a three-time Parade All-American in soccer. She also played for the PDA Wildcats team that won the 2003 Club National Championship.

Heath was ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the nation in the Class of 2006 by Soccer Buzz magazine. She was named to the Parade Magazine All-America team in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Other awards include: Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year, Newark Star Ledger's First Team All-State squad, and Newark Star-Ledger's New Jersey Player of the Year.

University of North Carolina

Heath committed to attend University of North Carolina (UNC) heading into her junior year of high school and did not play high school soccer her senior year, opting instead to train with boys. She was a consensus freshman All-America on UNC’s 2006 national championship team and started 22 of the 23 games she played for the Tar Heels at the left midfield spot, scoring four goals with nine assists. As a sophomore, she scored two goals with five assists and was named to the First-Team NSCAA All-American and First-Team All-ACC. As a junior for the Tar Heels, she scored eight goals with eight assists, helping UNC to a 25-1-2 record and the NCAA title.

As a senior at UNC, she scored five goals with 10 assists for the Tar Heels, who compiled a record of 23-3-1 and pulled out 1-0 victories in both the NCAA semifinal and championship game. She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. She was also the first runner-up for the MAC Hermann Trophy, given to college soccer’s top player.

Heath finished her UNC career with 19 goals and 32 assists. She helped lead UNC to NCAA Women's Soccer Championship titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and four straight Atlantic Coast Conference titles. UNC soccer coach Anson Dorrance said himself that Heath preferred to nutmeg opposing players rather than dribble the ball around them. Heath played under #98 at UNC. Heath's academic major at UNC was Communications.

Club career

Women's Professional Soccer

In 2010, she was the first overall pick in the Women's Professional Soccer 2010 college draft and was selected by the expansion Atlanta Beat.

On December 10, 2010, Heath, along with Beat teammates Eniola Aluko and Angie Kerr were traded to Sky Blue FC in return for the fourth and eighth pick in 2011 Women's Professional Soccer Draft and "future considerations in 2012."

Women's Premier Soccer League Elite

With the folding of WPS in 2012, Tobin Heath joined New York Fury of WPSL Elite League. She played one game with the team after recovering from an ankle injury during the start of the season and later being called to the national team.

National Women's Soccer League

The newly established National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced, on January 11, 2013, Heath as one of the seven players allocated to the Portland Thorns FC for their initial roster.

Division 1 Féminine

Prior to joining the Portland Thorns FC in the new National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Heath will briefly play for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in Paris, France until the end of the season on May 23, 2013.

International career

National youth teams

Heath played on the U-16 USA Women's National Team from 2003–2004, with the U-17 team in 2004–05 and with the USA Women's U-20 National Team at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship in Russia. She was a standout at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Russia, was one of five players to make the World Cup roster without participating in CONCACAF Qualifying, and was the third youngest player on the World Cup roster. Heath played in 24 matches for the U-20s in 2006, scoring five goals including two in international matches (scored her first international goal at the U-20 level against Canada in April in Brazil). Heath finished her U-20 international career with 14 caps and two goals. Heath started for the silver medal winning USA Women's team in the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil.

2008 national senior team debut

Heath made her first appearance for the senior team on January 18, 2008 against Finland in the Four Nations Tournament. Heath nutmegged a Finland player on her first touches in her first cap. She was a reserve midfielder on the U.S. squad at the 2008 Summer Olympics and was the youngest squad member (age 20). She earned three caps during the tournament where the Women's National Team went on to win the Gold Medal. Heath was one of just three active collegians chosen to play on the U.S. Team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In 2008 alone, Heath earned her first 17 caps and scored her first two goals, the first-ever WNT goal against China at the Algarve Cup.

Heath was named the 2009 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year and played in two matches for the USA WNT, both against Canada in July 2009. Heath did not play for the USA in 2010 as she recovered from illness and a major ankle injury suffered early in the WPS season that eventually required surgery.

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

Heath made her FIFA Women's World Cup debut at the age of 23 during the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, playing in the second half during the USA WNT's group-stage match against Colombia. Heath earned a total of four caps in the Women's World Cup Tournament, the remaining three coming from the quarter-final against Brazil (108th minute substitution), the semi-final against France (87th minute substitution), and the final against Japan. In the World Cup Final Heath was one of the players elected to take a penalty kick for the United States. Heath had her shot blocked by Japan's goalie.

2012 London Olympics

Heath at the 2012 Summer Olympics final

Heath was a member of the 2012 Olympic team, playing in all six matches, starting and playing the entire match in four of them. She had three assists, against France, Colombia, and New Zealand. Against France, at the 66th minute, she ran down the left flank with the ball received from a through pass from Megan Rapinoe, and sent a crossing pass to Alex Morgan who scored the last goal of the match making the final score 4–2. Against Colombia, she played a 1–2 pass with Wambach for her 2nd assist. Her third assist came in the quarter final match against New Zealand, at the 87th minute, when she provided a long ball down the left flank to Sydney Leroux, who scored through the legs of the goalkeeper Jenny Bindon, sealing the match at the final score of 2–0.

International goals

	Key
#	numberOfGoals.goalNumber by the player in the match
Lineup	Start – played entire match minute ( player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time minute ( player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time (c) – captain
Min	The minute in the match the goal was scored; blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass	The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information. See Assist (football) page.
Score	The match score after the goal was scored.
aet	The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso	Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parathesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
penalty	Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Result	The final score.
	Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match
	Light-yellow background color – match at an invitational tournament
	Light-orange background color – Olympic women's football qualification match
	Light-blue background color – FIFA women's world cup qualification match
	Pink background color – Continental Games or regional tournament
	Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
	Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
NOTE on background colors: Continental Games or regional tournament are sometimes also qualifier for World Cup or Olympics; information depends on the source such as the player's federation. NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player

	Date	Location	Opponent	Lineup	Min	Assist/pass	Score	Result	Competition
1	2008-03-05	Albufeira	China PR	45. 46' ( Tarpley)	47	unassisted	5200.02005 2-0	5400.04005 4-0	Algarve Cup – group stage
2	2008-04-04	Ciudad Juarez	Jamaica	45. 46' ( Lloyd)	95+	Lauren Cheney	5600.00005 6-0	5600.00005 6-0	CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying – group stage
3	2011-11-19	Glendale, AZ	Sweden	45. 46' ( Rodriguez)	81	Alex Morgan	5000.01005 1-1	5000.01005 1-1	Friendly
4	2012-01-20	Vancouver	Dominican	45. 46' ( Rodriguez)	30	Heather O'Reilly	5600.06005 6-0	6400.14005 14-0	CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying – group stage
5	2012-01-27	Vancouver	Costa Rica	63. 63' ( Morgan)	16	Shannon Boxx	5100.01005 1-0	5300.03005 3-0	CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying – semifinal
6	2012-06-16	Halmstad	Sweden	45. 46' ( O'Reilly)	56	Abby Wambach	5200.03005 3-1	5200.03005 3-1	Volvo Winners Cup
7	2012-10-23	E Hartford, CT	Germany	28. 63' ( O'Reilly)	67	Alex Morgan	5100.02005 2-1	5000.02005 2-2	Friendly
8	2013-04-09	Hague	Netherlands	90.Start	36	Sydney Leroux	5100.01005 1-0	5200.03005 3-1	Friendly

Honors and Awards

College

University of North Carolina

• NCAA Women's Soccer Champions (3): 2006, 2008, 2009

International

• Olympic Gold Medal (2): 2008, 2012

• Algarve Cup (3): 2008, 2011, 2013

• Four Nations Tournament (2): 2008, 2011

• FIFA Women's World Cup Runner-up: 2011

Individual

• U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year (1): 2009
• NCAA All-American First-Team (2): 2007, 2009
• ACC Conference First-Team(3): 2007, 2008, 2009

External links

• Tobin Heath – FIFA competition record
• US Soccer profile
• UNC player profile
• Portland Thorns player profile
• 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup player profile
• Tobin Heath on Twitter