Christie Pearce

Christie Patricia Pearce (formerly Rampone; born June 24, 1975) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender.

She is the former captain of the United States national team.

Pearce is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and also a two-time world champion in FIFA Women's World Cup.

Pearce has played in five FIFA Women's World Cup finals and four Olympics women's soccer tournaments.

When not on the field, Pearce studied towards a degree in Special Education, which she completed in 1996.

She also worked as a volunteer basketball and soccer coach when completing her student teaching with Monmouth.

Pearce played in the W-League from 1997 through 1998.

After college, Pearce played for Central Jersey Splash and New Jersey Lady Stallions, in 1997 and 1998 respectively, of the W-League.

She is a 1999 and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup champion, and a three-time gold medalist having won championship titles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics.

She finished no lower than third place in each of the World Cup or Olympic tournaments in which she competed.

She played in two American professional leagues the entire time they were in operation; from 2001 through 2003 in the WUSA and from 2009 through 2011 in the WPS.

In 2001, she was selected as a member of New York Power, a professional soccer team in Women's United Soccer Association.

In the first year, Christie played every minute of the first 18 games until tearing her anterior cruciate ligament, sidelining her for the rest of the season.

In 2002, Christie bounced back to play in 1699 minutes over 19 games, and another 18 games in 2003 in addition to her national team duties.

Shortly after concluding its third season, the WUSA suspended all operations.

In anticipation of an eventual relaunch, WUSA preserved its rights in the team names, logos and similar properties.

As a tribute to her achievements and for the worldwide fame she brought to her alma mater, the university awarded her with an honorary degree in Public Service in 2005.

Furthermore, the university inducted her into the Monmouth University Hall of Fame in 2007 and honored her 2008 Olympic accomplishments by declaring October 5, 2008 as Christie Rampone Day.

The next attempt at women's professional soccer in the United States kicked off in 2008 under the name of Women's Professional Soccer.

On September 16, 2008, the initial WPS player allocation was conducted and Pearce was chosen as captain for New Jersey's Sky Blue FC with fellow US Women's National Team players Heather O'Reilly and Natasha Kai.

In its inaugural season, Pearce and Sky Blue FC struggled, including the suspension of their first head coach Ian Sawyers and the resignation of his successor, Kelly Lindsey.

In 2009, while playing for Sky Blue FC, she simultaneously served as coach of the club while winning the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs, and was named WPS Sportswoman of the Year.

In July 2009, the Sky Blue organization announced that Pearce would serve as the caretaker coach, in addition to her playing duties, for the remainder of the WPS season.

After taking on the position as head coach, the third in one season for Sky Blue FC, Pearce took her team on to win the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs.

It was later revealed she was almost three months pregnant with her second child at the time of the match.

One week later, she was named WPS Sportswoman of the Year.

She remained with Sky Blue in a playing role for 2010 before switching to magicJack ahead of the 2011 Women's Professional Soccer season.

Pearce was the oldest player to appear in a FIFA Women's World Cup game (at age 40) until Formiga competed in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup at the age of 41.

With 311 caps, Pearce is also the third-most capped player, male or female, in U.S. and world history, after Kristine Lilly and Carli Lloyd.

On June 9, 2021, it was announced that Pearce was to be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility.

Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Christie Pearce grew up in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.

During her high school years, she was a four-sport athlete in soccer, basketball, track, and field hockey.

While attending Point Pleasant Borough High School, she scored 2,190 career high school basketball points, and was the first female athlete in New Jersey history to lead her conference in scoring in three different sports.

This accomplishment led her to all-state honors in all three sports.

Pearce was heralded as the best athlete Ocean County, New Jersey had ever produced.

Pearce attended Monmouth University, located in West Long Branch, New Jersey, after being highly recruited by nearly every major college in the country.

At Monmouth, she excelled as a three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse.

During her senior year, she opted to ease away from her starting point guard basketball position to train and travel with the United States women's national soccer team.

On the Monmouth soccer field, Pearce was a two-time Northeast Conference Player of the Year selection and First Team All Mid-Atlantic Region selection, posting ten multiple-goal games in her senior year.

She finished her collegiate soccer career with a start in all 80 games, led her team with 79 career goals and 54 assists, and was Monmouth's record holder for goals, assists, and points in a season.