Wikipedia

Lauren Gregg

Lauren Gregg (born July 20, 1960) is an American soccer coach and retired soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. She made one appearance for the United States women's national soccer team in 1986. She was the first-ever female assistant coach for any of the United States' national teams between 1987 and 2000,[4] and was interim head coach of the United States women's national soccer team in 1997 and 2000. As head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Virginia from 1986 to 1995, Gregg was the first woman to lead a team to the NCAA Division I Final Four and to be named NSCAA Coach of the Year.

Lauren Gregg
Personal information
Full name Lauren Gregg[1]
Date of birth (1960-07-20) July 20, 1960 (age 64)[2]
Place of birth Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.[2]
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[3]
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 Nigeria (women) (assistant coach)
Youth career
0000–1978 Wellesley Raiders
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1979 Lehigh Engineers (JV men) (1)
1980 Harvard Crimson (10)
1981–1982 North Carolina Tar Heels 44 (20)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1988 Tacoma Cozars
International career
1986 United States 1 (0)
Managerial career
North Carolina Tar Heels (assistant)
Harvard Crimson (assistant)
1986–1995 Virginia Cavaliers
1989–2000 United States (assistant)
1997 United States (stand-in)
1997–1999 United States U21
2000 United States (interim)
2021–2023 Nigeria (assistant)
2023- Nigeria (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gregg is a physician, as well as the co-author of The Champion Within: Training for Excellence.

Playing career

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Gregg attended Wellesley High School, where she competed in swimming and lettered in basketball, softball, field hockey, and soccer. She had played field hockey until soccer was offered at the school. Gregg attended Lehigh University and began playing for the women's soccer team, which only had club status. She later tried out for the men's junior varsity soccer team and earned a place in the squad. She never was never included in the starting line-up for the team, though she did score a goal during her freshman season.[5] She was also a member of the women's varsity basketball and lacrosse teams at the school. Gregg was honored with the John Steckbeck Award in 1979, awarded to the best first-year female student-athlete at Lehigh.[6] After two years, she was admitted on a one-year visiting student status to Harvard University.[2] She played for the Harvard Crimson women's team in 1980, which finished third at the AIAW women's soccer tournament, and scored ten goals for the team.[7] Gregg was chosen as a First Team All-American in 1981, and was included in the ACC All-Conference Team and the All-Region Team.[8]

After her visiting student term had ended at Harvard, Gregg enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. She played for the North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team in 1981 and 1982.[9] She helped North Carolina win the AIAW championship in 1981, and the first NCAA championship in 1982.[10] During her college career, she scored 20 goals and recorded 14 assists in 44 games for the Tar Heels.[11][12] Gregg was selected as an NSCAA Third Team All-American and was included in the AIAW All-Tournament Team in 1981, and in both seasons was selected in the ACC All-Conference Team and the All-Region Team. She was also included in the Academic All-America third team in 1983, and received the Marie James Award, a postgraduate scholarship.[2][4]

Gregg earned one cap for the United States women's national soccer team in 1986.[13]

Coaching career

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Gregg was the head coach for the women's soccer team at the University of Virginia from 1986 to 1995.[9] During her tenure, she led the team to the NCAA Final Four in 1991 and seven consecutive NCAA tournament bids from 1988 to 1994.[9] In 1990, she was named the NSCAA Coach of the Year becoming the first woman to receive the honor.[9] She was also the first woman to lead a team to the NCAA Division I Final Four.[9] She was an assistant coach for the United States women's national team that won the 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cups and gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[10]

Gregg served as head coach for the United States under-21 women's national soccer team and guided the team to Nordic Cup championship titles in 1997 and 1999.[9] She was the stand-in head coach of the U.S. national team for one match in 1997 against South Korea (which finished as a 6–1 win) as Tony DiCicco missed the match due to a family commitment.[14] She again served as the interim head coach for three games in 2000 at the Australia Cup after DiCicco stepped down.[9][15]

In 2007, Gregg was inducted into the Virginia–D.C. Soccer Hall of Fame for meritorious service.[16]

In 2021, Gregg was chosen as an assistant for the Nigeria women's national team by head coach Randy Waldrum.[17] Due to a power struggle between Waldrum and the Nigeria Football Federation, she was not allowed to travel with the team to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[18][19]

Personal life

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Gregg was born in Rochester, Minnesota, to James Alan Gregg and Veronica Anne "Ronnie" Nowick, and has four siblings. At the age of ten, her family moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts.[9] She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983,[20] and earned a Master of Education from Harvard University in 1985.[2] Her daughter, Meilin Gregg, also is a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team.[21]

Career statistics

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International

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United States[22]
Year Apps Goals
1986 1 0
Total 1 0

Honors

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Player

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Harvard Crimson

North Carolina Tar Heels

United States

  • North America Cup: 1986[23]

Individual

Coach

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United States (as assistant coach)

United States U21

  • Nordic Cup: 1997, 1999;[2] runner-up: 1998[9]

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Women's Monogram Awards, Fall Sports, 1982–83: Soccer". Annual Commencement in the One-Hundred Ninety-Fourth Year of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. May 15, 1983. p. 55. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Hawkes, Nena R.; Seggar, John F. (August 30, 2000). Celebrating Women Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 60. ISBN 9780313309120. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  3. ^ "Tar Heel Sketches". 1982 North Carolina Women's Soccer. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: North Carolina Tar Heels. 1982.
  4. ^ a b c d e "2020 UNC Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). North Carolina Tar Heels. 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  5. ^ Bass, Michael (November 7, 1980). "Laurie Gregg". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  6. ^ Larimer, Terry (May 8, 1979). "Mark Lieberman becomes Lehigh's most honored". Sports. The Morning Call. No. 28, 556. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. C5. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  7. ^ Bass, Michael (November 19, 1981). "Nothin' Could Be Finer Than to Be in Carolina". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Harvard Women's Soccer: Honors and Awards" (PDF). Harvard Crimson. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Lauren Gregg". Soccer Times. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Longman, Jere (December 12, 1999). "A Woman Should Be Calling the Shots for the Women's Team". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  11. ^ "University of North Carolina: 1981 Women's Soccer Statistics" (PDF). North Carolina Tar Heels. 1981. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  12. ^ "University of North Carolina: 1982 Women's Soccer Statistics" (PDF). North Carolina Tar Heels. 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  13. ^ "Former U.S. Women's National Soccer Team Players visit Argentina". U.S. Embassy. March 20, 2012. Archived from the original on February 27, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  14. ^ Yannis, Alex (May 6, 1997). "Soccer Report". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  15. ^ Jones, Grahame L. (December 9, 1999). "Selection Should Be Easy One for U.S." The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  16. ^ "Lauren Gregg". Virginia–D.C. Soccer Hall of Fame. January 31, 2017. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  17. ^ Woog, Dan (July 14, 2021). "Trailblazer Lauren Gregg adds a new chapter to her storied career – and hails her mentors". Soccer America. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  18. ^ Kriger, Rachael (July 8, 2023). "'It's blatant discrimination': Lauren Gregg speaks out on Nigerian Football Federation". The Equalizer. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  19. ^ Miller, Nick (July 14, 2023). "Nigeria are involved in a three-way power struggle days before the Women's World Cup". The Athletic. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  20. ^ "Degrees awarded August 25, 1983: Bachelors of Arts". Annual Commencement in the One-Hundred Ninety-Fifth Year of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. May 13, 1984. p. 22. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  21. ^ "Meilin Gregg". North Carolina Tar Heels. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  22. ^ "2019 U.S. Women's National Team Media Guide" (PDF). United States Soccer Federation. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  23. ^ "This Day in Football from 9–15 July". CanadaSoccer.com. Canadian Soccer Association. July 9, 2012. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  24. ^ "Virginia Women's Soccer 2020–21 Fact Book: History & Records" (PDF). Virginia Cavaliers. 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.

Further reading

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  • Grainey, Timothy (2012), Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0803240368
  • Gregg, Lauren (1999), The Champion Within, J T C Sports Inc, ISBN 1887791078
  • Hawkes, Nena and John F.A. Seggar (2000), Celebrating Women Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0313309124
  • Lisi, Clemente A. (2010), The U.S. Women's Soccer Team: An American Success Story, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0810874164
  • Longman, Jere (2009), The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How it Changed the World, HarperCollins, ISBN 0061877689
  • Williams, Jean (2003), A Game for Rough Girls?: A History of Women's Football in Britain", Routledge, 0415263387
  • Williams, Jean (2007), A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football', Berg, ISBN 1-84520-674-6
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