Heather Mitts has officially announced her retirement. (Copyright Patricia Giobetti | http://www.printroom.com/pro/psgiobetti)
United States women’s national team defender Heather Mitts officially announced her retirement via a Facebook post on Wednesday evening, bringing to an end a career that included three Olympic gold medals and 137 international caps.
Mitts originally stated she would retire following the 2012 London Olympics, but later reconsidered and entered her name into the pool of national team players to be allocated to National Women’s Soccer League teams.
“The time has come for me to move onto a new stage of my career,” Mitts wrote on Facebook. “I truly appreciate the women who paved the way, to my friends and dear teammates that I will never forget.”
Mitts wrote that she will be serving as a sideline analyst for Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union and that she will also be an ambassador for the club. She also stated that she will stay involved in soccer-related projects and looks forward to becoming the “ultimate soccer mom.” Read her full statement here.
The 34-year-old outside back had been allocated to the Boston Breakers for the upcoming NWSL season, alongside US teammates Heather O’Reilly and Sydney Leroux. Mitts played for the Philadelphia Charge from 2001-2003 in the Women’s United Soccer Association and played with Boston (2009), the Philadelphia Independence (2010) and the Atlanta Beat (2011) in Women’s Professional Soccer.
Below is what Mitts had to say about her pending retirement last May. Notice that just like in her official Facebook post on Wednesday, Mitts refuses to use the word, “retirement”:
