Subscribe
Follow Us
Three years after her final professional appearance and a serious left knee injury, former U.S. women’s national team midfielder Tobin Heath recently announced that she has retired from professional soccer.
Heath had a great career and will finish as a two-time World Cup winner and two-time Olympics gold medalist with the U.S. women, a two-time NWSL champion with Portland Thorns FC, and a three-time NCAA champion with the University of North Carolina.
Though it should be like a bittersweet moment for her to hang up her cleats, Heath is still worried about her knee injury that led her to not being able to play, according to Meg Lineham of The Athletic.
“I had a personal journey back in January that I came to my own acceptance of not playing anymore,” Heath said. “It was me grieving not being able to play soccer anymore. For me, that was the greatest gift that had ever been given to me and such a core part of my identity and how I express myself and know myself to be.”
Heath opened up, saying that she can't run in a straight line, and the toughest part of all of this is not being able to play the sport she loves.
“Football is a 360-degree sport, and I can’t do it. If I ever would try to do it, it’s really sad. So that part is the hardest part,” Heath said. “The actual playing of soccer is gone, not even the professional or playing in a World Cup and stuff like that. The actual gift that was given to me when I first started. That gift is gone.”
In 2016, Heath was named the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year and is known as one of the most decorated figures in the U.S. Soccer women's program.
“I never played to be famous or for people to care about me,” Heath said. “I just played because I love it.”
Nobody will forget what Heath brought to the game, and hopefully she can get past her injuries and live and healthy retirement.
