2011 - Female Recipient Kristine Lilly
Kristine Lilly, the 2011 Female Recipient of the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award, is one of the most legendary figures and accomplished players in the history of women's soccer. She holds the world record with 352 international appearances.
Lilly played in five FIFA Women's World Cups (the only woman to do so) and three Olympic Games, helping the USA win four of those tournaments, finishing second once and third three times. Lilly scored in every world championship tournament she played, except her first, the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup when she was 20 years old.
She is the only player to appear for the United States in four different decades and is both the youngest and oldest player to ever score a goal for the USA. She is also the oldest player ever to earn a cap by more than three years over long-time teammate Joy Fawcett.
Lilly was the second-youngest player ever to debut for the USA when she started against China in 1987 at age 16. She scored her first career goal in her second cap ten days later. She went on to represent her country 352 times, by far a world record for women or men and a mark possibly never to be equaled. Lilly, nicknamed "The Queen of Caps," has been the world's most capped female player since 1998 when she earned her 152nd cap against Japan on May 21 in Kobe, Japan, passing Norway's Heidi Stoere.
She announced her retirement at the beginning of 2011 finishing her career with 130 international goals, second only to Mia Hamm in U.S. and world history. Her 105 career assists are also second in the U.S. record book to Hamm.
Lilly was named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year three times during her career with the first award coming in 1993 and, remarkably, two more 12 and 13 years later, coming back-to-back in 2005 and 2006. Lilly finishes as the USA's all-time leader in Women's World Cup matches with 30 (along with eight career goals, tied for third all-time). She is tied with four others for most Olympic matches played with 16 while also scoring four times in those games.
Lilly helped inspire several generations of young female soccer players, including many of the players who broke into the national team during the past 10 years. As a member of the "Fab Five" along with Hamm, Julie Foudy, Fawcett and Brandi Chastain, Lilly helped bring women's soccer into a new era while winning Olympic gold medals and Women's World Cup titles. That run included the historic 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup held on home soil where the USA defeated China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., in front of 90,185 fans, still the most ever to attend a women's soccer match. She is the last of the "Fab Five" to retire, outlasting her contemporaries by a full six years.
Lilly also played professional soccer with the Boston Breakers of the WPS, for whom she played the last two seasons, including every minute of all 20 games in 2009 during the inaugural season. Lilly also played three seasons for the Breakers in the WUSA from 2001-2003, playing 102 total matches for the club. She was an All-Star and/or All-League in all five of her professional club seasons.
Lilly returned to the national team in 2010 for one final run, helping the USA qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany. She played in 10 matches last year for the national team, starting three, and scored her final career goal against Germany on May 22 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Lilly, is from the small town of Wilton, Conn., where she led Wilton High School to three state titles. She won the 1991 Hermann Trophy and Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year for the University of North Carolina, where she helped lead the Tar Heels to four consecutive NCAA titles. The four-time All-American scored 78 goals with 41 assists in her college career and had her jersey retired in 1994 by North Carolina.
Lilly has been involved in numerous charitable organizations. In 1999 she chaired the MMRF Race for Research: Tri-State (New York, Connecticut and New Jersey) where she helped raise $300,000 for myeloma research. She founded the Lilly Awards honoring extraordinary Connecticut women with proceeds donated to Special Olympics Connecticut, where she also serves as a Special Olympics soccer ambassador for North America and is a member of the Special Olympics Advisory Team. She has also volunteered for the Mia Hamm Foundation, Triad Trust, America Scores, the Women's Sports Foundation, Good Sports and the Jarred Williams Foundation. She serves on the board of Clifford's Gift, a non-profit organization with the mission to provide a comprehensive response to the homelessness problem and to provide numerous supportive services through community outreach and awareness.
Lilly and her husband Dave Heavey, a Boston fireman, have a daughter Sidney. Lilly is involved in soccer through her TeamFirst soccer camps with former teammates Hamm and Tisha Venturini, through clinics and speaking appearances. She also runs the Kristine Lilly Soccer Academy.
Kristine Lilly - Game Over!
