Tobin Heath
Tobin Powell Heath is an American former professional soccer player and entrepreneur. Playing primarily as a forward and midfielder for the United States national team, she won gold at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 2012 London Summer Olympics, 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup as well as silver at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. She was described as "perhaps the USA's most skillful player" by the United States Soccer Federation, and was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2016 and U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year in 2009.
Heath won two NWSL Championships with her team Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League, and last played in 2022 for OL Reign. She played for Manchester United and Arsenal in the English FA Women's Super League as well as Paris Saint-Germain in France. Before the formation of the NWSL, she played for the Atlanta Beat and Sky Blue FC in the Women's Professional Soccer league. She won three Division I national college championships from 2006-09 with the University of North Carolina.
In 2019, Heath co-founded a lifestyle brand, RE—INC, with fellow athletes Christen Press, Megan Rapinoe, and Meghan Klingenberg. She co-hosts the podcast, The RE—CAP Show, with Christen Press.
In 2020, she was named to the FIFA FIFPro Women's World11.
Heath announced her retirement in July 2025, three years after her final professional game.
Early life and education
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 in Action and Champions for Christ. Heath started playing soccer at the age of 4 in the back of a YMCA. She has described herself as a proud and devout follower of the Christian faith and is very close to her family.Heath graduated from Ridge High School in Basking Ridge in 2006, where she played soccer for three years. She also played for the 2003 Club National Champion PDA Wildcats team. Heath was ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the nation in the Class of 2006 by Soccer Buzz magazine and was named to the Parade Magazine All-America team in 2005.
North Carolina Tar Heels
Heath committed to attend the University of North Carolina when she was due to begin her junior year at high school. She did not play soccer in her senior year, instead deciding to train with boys. In her consensus freshman year in 2006 with the Tar Heels, she was part of the All-America 2006 national championship team and made 23 appearances at left midfield, scoring four goals and assisting nine. As a sophomore, she scored two goals, assisting another five, and was named to the First-Team NSCAA All-American and First-Team All-ACC. As a junior, 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 was involved in fifteen Tar Heels goals, scoring five and assisting ten. The team compiled a record of 23–3–1 and recorded 1–0 victories in both the NCAA semi-final and the championship game. She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team and also the first runner-up for the MAC Hermann Trophy, given to the college soccer's top player.
Overall, Heath helped lead UNC to NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and four straight Atlantic Coast Conference titles. UNC soccer coach Anson Dorrance notes that Heath preferred to nutmeg opposing players rather than dribble the ball around them.
Club career
USL W-League (2004–2009)
From 2004 to 2006 Heath played with the New Jersey Wildcats, then known as the PSA Wildcats, where she helped the team win the USL W-League Championship in 2005 and be crowned USL W-League Runners-Up in 2004, after assisting the team in becoming Champions of the USL W-League Northeast Division in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The next year she played for Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues; the team finished the season second in their division and made it to the 2007 Conference Semifinal. In 2009 she played one season with California's Pali Blues, who won the USL W-League Western Conference title and the W-League Championship title.Women's Professional Soccer (2010–11)
In 2010, she was the first overall pick in the Women's Professional Soccer 2010 college draft and was selected by the expansion team Atlanta Beat. After suffering an injury to her right ankle in her third appearance for the Beat, she missed the remainder of the 2010 season. She started in all three of her appearances for the club.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 the 2011 WPS Draft as well as future considerations. Heath made twelve appearances for Sky Blue, starting in three games. The team finished fifth during regular season play with 5 wins, 4 draws, and 9 losses.
New York Fury (2012)
With the folding of WPS in 2012, Heath joined New York Fury of the WPSL Elite League. At the start of the season, she was recovering from an ankle injury. Afterwards, she played one game with New York Fury.Paris Saint-Germain (2013–2014)
In 2013, Heath signed a six-month contract with Paris Saint-Germain in the top-tier French league, Division 1 Féminine, until the end of the season on May 23, 2013. She scored five goals in the twelve appearances she made for the club. Her six-month spell was referred as her education on the Portland Thorns FC website.Heath returned to PSG from the Portland Thorns in September 2013 until June 2014, after she had a sore right foot in the 2013 NWSL Championship. During her second spell with the club, she made seven appearances without scoring.
Portland Thorns FC (2013–2020)
The newly established National Women's Soccer League announced on January 11, 2013, that Heath was one of the seven players allocated to the Portland Thorns FC for their initial roster as part of the NWSL Player Allocation. After completing the season with Paris-Saint Germain, she joined the Thorns in July 2013, helping them attain a third-place finish in the NWSL. The Thorns won the 2013 NWSL Championship after defeating the Western New York Flash 2–0, with Heath scoring the game-winning goal from a direct free kick; she later revealed that she had a broken foot during this game. She was voted the Most Valuable Player of the championship game.During the beginning of the 2016 NWSL season, Heath notched five assists in five games – two of them in a 2–1 victory over the Orlando Pride – and earned the title of NWSL Player of the Month for April. She scored her first goal of the 2016 season against the Washington Spirit, one voted NWSL goal of the week by fans. She was also named NWSL Player of the Week for week 6. Heath notched her 10th assist of the season in Portland's final game against Sky Blue FC, breaking the NWSL's previous record of 9 assists by a single player in one regular season. The record still stands. She was named the team's captain when Christine Sinclair was injured during the season.
Heath missed the majority of the 2017 NWSL season while nursing a lingering back injury which kept her out of play. It was first described as a minor injury that was expected to result in a short spell out of play, with an estimated return date listed as May 27 against the Boston Breakers. The back injury lasted longer than initially thought, so she was sent to Los Angeles and was treated by her coaching staff. Heath was removed from the disabled list and added to the active roster on August 28. It was announced in May that she would take up a role within the team's Development Academy as Youth Technical Director. Heath returned in time for end of the season; her NWSL season debut was on September 23 vs Orlando Pride at the 60th minute. She made her first start on October 7 against the same team in the NWSL Championship Semi-final. She helped her team reach the final of the play-offs with an assist for Emily Sonnett in a 4–1 win, and participated in a 1–0 win over North Carolina Courage to win the NWSL Championship.
Heath suffered an ankle injury during the 2017 NWSL Championship game and underwent surgery at the beginning of 2018. She missed the first four games of the 2018 NWSL season as she was still recovering from surgery. Heath returned to the Thorns lineup on April 28 against the Utah Royals, where she entered the game in the 57th minute and scored a goal 10 minutes later. The game ended in a 1–1 draw. Heath scored 7 goals and added 7 assists during the regular season. She was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for August. Heath scored another goal in Portland's 2–1 win over the Seattle Reign in the semi-final, setting up a re-match with the North Carolina Courage in the final. Portland was defeated by the Courage 3–0 in the final. Heath was named one of five nominees for NWSL Most Valuable Player; her Thorns teammate Lindsey Horan won the award. Heath was named to the 2018 NWSL Best XI.
Heath started the 2019 season by winning both the NWSL Goal of the Week and Player of the Week for the first week of play.
With the 2020 season disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Heath elected not to participate in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.
On November 12, 2020, having left Heath unprotected, Portland lost her NWSL rights to Racing Louisville FC during the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft.
Manchester United (2020–2021)
On September 9, 2020, Manchester United of the FA Women's Super League announced it had signed Heath, along with her national teammate Christen Press, to one-year contracts. She made her debut on October 4 as a 70th minute substitute in a 3–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, registering an assist. She scored her first goal for the club on October 18 as part of a 4–2 WSL victory away to West Ham United. On November 14, Heath scored her first Manchester derby goal in a 2–2 league draw with Manchester City, helping start United's comeback from 0–2 down. On December 11, 2020, Heath was named WSL Player of the Month for November.On December 17, 2020, Heath, was named to FIFA FIFPro Women's World11 at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020.
Having been sidelined by an ankle injury since January 2021, Heath, it was announced in April, had since suffered a further knee injury and had returned to the United States to try and rehab in time for the summer's Olympic Games, prematurely ending her debut season with United. On June 24, the club announced Heath would leave upon the expiry of her contract at the end of the month.