Amy Rodriguez

Amy Joy Rodriguez Shilling (; born February 17, 1987) is an American soccer coach and retired professional player who most recently served as head coach of Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). During a career that spanned 13 seasons, she played as a forward for the North Carolina Courage, Utah Royals FC, FC Kansas City, and the Boston Breakers, as well as Philadelphia Independence of the WPS. A former member of the United States women's national soccer team, she was on the Women's World Cup-winning team in 2015.

Early life Born in Lake Forest, California, to parents John and Lori, She grew up in Lake Forest, California and attended Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, where she was a Parade All-American in 2003 and 2004 and the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2005. Her paternal grandparents were from Cuba and immigrated to the United States in the 1950s. She has a sister named Lauren and brother named Adam. Her paternal uncle is Francis Rodriguez and former wide receiver for the USC Trojans 1982-83. During the inaugural season, Rodriguez appeared in 17 matches (11 starts, 982 minutes) and scored one goal. The Breakers finished the season in fifth place with a 7–9–4 record.

Philadelphia Independence, 2009–2011 On September 29, 2009, Rodriguez was traded with Boston's first round selection in the 2010 WPS Draft to WPS expansion team, the Philadelphia Independence, in exchange for Philadelphia's first two selections in the 2010 WPS Draft.

During the 2010 season, Rodriguez scored 12 goals and had six assists. She was named the WPS Player of the Month for June 2010. Rodriguez finished third in the league in goals and scored the winning goal in the first round of the playoffs in overtime against the Washington Freedom to send her team to the Super Semifinal.

During a 2011 regular season shortened for Rodriguez due to her national team duty, Amy played in 10 games for the Independence (starting six) for a total of 641 minutes and tallied two regular season goals. She scored in both of Philadelphia's playoff matches, tallying the second goal in the 2–0 victory over magicJack in the Super Semifinal and the equalizer in the 88th minute of the championship game against the Western New York Flash, sending the game to overtime before Philly eventually fell in penalty kicks. About a month after the allocation, Seattle announced that Rodriguez was pregnant and would not be available to play for the 2013 season. She was later traded to FC Kansas City for Kristie Mewis during the 2013–14 off-season, making her debut for the Midwest club in a preseason exhibition match against the Chicago Red Stars.

On August 31, 2014 Rodriguez scored two goals for FC Kansas City in a 2–1 win against Seattle Reign FC, both on assists provided by Lauren Holiday, to help the club win the 2014 NWSL Championship. In 2015 FC Kansas City reached the Championship game once again and Rodriguez scored the game-winning (and lone) goal off an assist from Heather O'Reilly to win the 2015 NWSL Championship; she was named the match's MVP. Rodriguez missed the 2016 NWSL season as she was pregnant with her second child.

Rodriguez returned to FC Kansas City for the 2017 NWSL season. In the first game of the season she scored a goal in the 48th minute, however minutes later she suffered a knee injury and was forced to leave the game. It was announced that Rodriguez had torn her ACL and would miss the rest of the season.

Utah Royals FC, 2018–2020 After FC Kansas ceased operations in November 2017, her rights were transferred to the Utah Royals. In February 2018, she committed to joining the Royals. Rodriguez began the 2018 season on the 45-Day disabled list as she was still recovering from her knee injury. On April 20 she made her debut for the Royals and she scored her first goal for Utah a week later on April 28. Rodriguez finished the season with 5 goals, which was the second highest on the team. She signed a contract with Utah prior to the 2019 NWSL season as she was no longer an allocated player by U.S. Soccer.

On June 15, 2019, Rodriguez contributed the game's only goal in a win over Sky Blue FC on a lengthy, slaloming run finished with a 25-yard shot from outside the box to the upper corner, with her effort ultimately earning a nomination for the FIFA Puskás Award as one of the year's most beautiful goals.

North Carolina Courage, 2021 On 22 July 2021, she and $60,000 of allocation money was traded from Kansas City to the Courage for Kristen Hamilton, Hailie Mace and Katelyn Rowland.

International career National youth teams Rodriguez played for several United States national youth teams, appearing in two FIFA youth championships: the 2004 U-19 World Championship in Thailand and the 2006 U-20 World Championship in Russia, as well as the 2005 Nordic Cup in Sweden. In total, she's played with the U-17, U-19/U-20 and U-21 programs.

Senior national team

Rodriguez's first appearance for the United States women's national team came on March 11, 2005, against Finland in the Algarve Cup while she was a senior in high school. She earned two caps, playing as a sub against Finland and Denmark.

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup In 2011, Rodriguez started all 18 games she played for the United States and recorded 1,102 minutes of playing time. She scored four goals with three assists. She played in her first FIFA Women's World Cup at the senior level, starting the first five matches of the tournament.

2012 London Olympics Rodriguez scored five goals in a 2012 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying match between the United States and the Dominican Republic; the final score of the match was 14–0. Rodriguez's performance set a record for goals scored in a single match by one player in CONCACAF Olympic qualifying, and tied the single-game record for the United States national team. Both records were tied two days later by her teammate, Sydney Leroux, in a game against Guatemala.

Rodriguez was a member of the team that competed in the 2012 London Olympics. She played four matches as a substitute and received her second Olympic gold medal, the gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics being her first.

In 2012, Rodriguez had nine goals off the bench to tie for the second most in United States women's national team history with Debbie Keller.

On December 8, 2012, Rodriguez celebrated her 100th cap with the senior national team during an international friendly against China at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. She wore the captain's armband, a team tradition for players in their 100th national team appearance, during the 2–0 win.

2013–2014 In January 2013, Rodriguez announced that she was pregnant with her first child and would miss all of 2013. She returned to the National Team in January 2014 and was named to the 2014 Algarve Cup roster. Rodiguez was named to the roster for the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship, she appeared in 2 matches as the United States won the tournament for the seventh time. She appeared in twelve matches in 2014 and scored 2 goals.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Rodriguez was named to the United States roster for the 2015 Algarve Cup, she scored in a group stage game against Switzerland. The U.S. won the Algarve Cup for the tenth time. In April, Rodriguez was named to the final 23-player roster for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, this would be her second time playing in a World Cup as she was also a member of the team in 2011.

At the 2015 World Cup Rodriguez appeared in two matches. She was in the starting lineup for their quarterfinal match against China PR, which the U.S won 1–0. The United States went on to win the 2015 World Cup by defeating Japan 5–2.

2016–2018 In January 2016, Rodriguez announced that she was expecting her second child and would miss the 2016 Olympics. After giving birth, Rodriguez returned to the National Team in April 2017 in a friendly against Russia. After tearing her ACL in a match with FC Kansas City, Rodriguez would miss the rest of 2017.

After recovering from her knee injury, Rodriguez was called up in June 2018 for a set of friendlies against China PR. She was also named to the roster for the 2018 Tournament of Nations, the U.S won the tournament, but Rodriguez did not get any playing time. She was named to the 35-player provisional roster for the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship but she was not named to the final 20-player squad.

International summary Year Starts 2005 2 0 61 0 0 2006 3 0 43 0 0 2008 26 11 1359 6 7 2009 7 5 396 0 1 2010 17 13 991 7 1 2011 18 18 1102 4 3 2012 29 5 904 9 5 2014 12 4 375 2 2 2015 15 5 589 2 3 2017 1 0 10 0 0 2018 2 0 43 0 0 Total 132 56 5873 30 19 Updated through 2019-04-22

International goals

Retirement On January 28, 2022, Rodriguez announced her retirement from professional soccer as a player.

Managerial career In August 2021 during her final NWSL playing season, Rodriguez registered for U.S. Soccer's B-license coaching course for current and former players.

USC Trojans (assistant) Upon announcing her retirement from playing, Rodriguez also announced that she had accepted a position as an assistant coach at her alma mater, the University of Southern California, women's soccer team. Rodriguez had played with Utah Royals FC president Michelle Hyncik in youth soccer and high school, and Hyncik credited their personal connection for the hiring decision. , Rodriguez was working toward the U.S. Soccer A-level coaching license required for the role.

On June 30, 2024, Rodriguez was relieved of her duties as head coach after a 2-11-2 start to the season.

Honors and awards

International Olympic Gold Medal: 2008, 2012 FIFA Women's World Cup: 2015; Runner-up: 2011 CONCACAF Women's Championship: 2014 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament: 2012 Algarve Cup: 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015 Four Nations Tournament: 2008, 2011 Tournament of Nations: 2018

Club with FC Kansas City NWSL championship: 2014, 2015

Individual WPS Player of the Month: June 2010 WPS Best XI: 2010 WPS All-Star Team: 2010 NWSL Best XI: 2014 NWSL Championship Most Valuable Player: 2015 FIFA Puskás Award nominee: 2019

Personal life Rodriguez is called "A-Rod" by her teammates and soccer commentators.

Rodriguez married fellow USC athlete Adam Shilling on October 8, 2011. On January 29, 2013, it was confirmed that Rodriguez and her husband were expecting their first child. On August 6, 2013, their first son, Ryan John Shilling, was born. Rodriguez, along with her husband, is a devout Christian. U.S. Soccer announced Rodriguez was pregnant with her second child when they released an article on December 21, 2015 announcing the roster for the next training camp. Their second child, Luke Shilling, was born on July 1, 2016.

In popular culture

Video games Rodriguez was featured along with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series in FIFA 16, the first time women players were included in the game.

Ticker-tape parade and White House honor Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Rodriguez and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a Ticker Tape Parade in New York City. Each player received a key to the city from Mayor Bill de Blasio. In October of the same year, the team was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.