Cat Whitehill

Catherine Reddick Whitehill (born Catherine Anne Reddick; February 10, 1982) is an American retired professional soccer defender, who was also an assistant coach of the Boston Breakers in the NWSL. Whitehill last played for the Boston Breakers in 2015 and previously played for the Washington Freedom and the Atlanta Beat in the WPS. She was a member of the United States women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2010; during that time, she earned a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Early life Whitehill was born in Richmond, Virginia, and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, attending Briarwood Christian School. While there, she scored 211 goals during her high school career and was the only player to make the top 10 in the single-season category twice (78 in 1999 and 72 in 1999). Whitehill played four years of soccer and three years of basketball at Briarwood. She was named a Parade All-America selection in 1999 and 2000. She was also a four-time All-State selection, the Birmingham News State and Metro Player of the Year in soccer and a two-time Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year for the State of Alabama. Whitehill led the school's basketball team to the state Final Four twice and the soccer team to four high school state titles. In 1999, she was named one of Birmingham Magazine's Top Six People of 1999.

Club career

The WPS Years: 2009–2011

In 2009, Whitehill signed with the Washington Freedom for the 2009 WPS season. She started in 19 games, scored three goals and added two assists. The following season, she started 23 matches for the Freedom. She scored one goal and tallied two assists and played all 120 minutes of the playoff match against the Philadelphia Independence.

Whitehill signed with the Atlanta Beat for the 2011 WPS season. She made seventeen starts for the club, tallying 1,530 minutes.

WPSL Elite: 2012 After the folding of the WPS in early 2012, Whitehill signed with the Boston Breakers in the WPSL, the top division of women's soccer in the United States at the time.

NWSL: 2013–2015 Whitehill defending against Abby Wambach of the Western New York Flash on June 5, 2013. Whitehill signed with the Boston Breakers for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League. Towards the end of the regular season, Breakers head coach, Lisa Cole, resigned from the team and Whitehill was named player-coach for the remainder of the season. On May 28, 2015 Whitehill announced her retirement from professional soccer citing her "recent injury, and the fact that I will be missing games while commentating this summer during the World Cup" as the main factors to retirement.

International career Whitehill debuted for the United States women's national soccer team on July 6, 2000, against Italy, and played for the senior team from 2000 to 2010. She was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in addition to earning bronze at two editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup: 2003 and 2007.

On June 10, 2008, Whitehill injured her knee during training for the Peace Queen Cup, and consequently missing the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Whitehill played her first match for the national team after recovery on July 19, 2009, in a friendly against Canada. She last played for the national team on March 31, 2010, at Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah, against Mexico in the first ever snow game for the USWNT.

International Goals Whitehill scored 11 goals in 134 matches for the United States women's national soccer team. Whitehill is unusual in having scored more than a few goals while playing in a defender position. On July 15, 2006, at Blaine, Minnesota, she scored a goal from a 70-yard free kick against Sweden, which is the longest shot to have scored a goal for the USWNT. Quarteira, Portugal Start 1.1 56 unassisted |Algarve Cup: fifth place match

2.1 48

2.2 66

2004-03-18 Lagos, Portugal Start 1.1 85 |Algarve Cup: Group A

2004-10-03 Portland, United States Start 1.1 81 |Friendly

2004-10-20 Chicago, United States Start 1.1 56 |Friendly

2006-07-15 Blaine, United States Start 1.1 89 unassisted |Friendly

2.1 39

2.2 89 unassisted

2006-08-27 Chicago, United States Start 1.1 30 unassisted |Friendly

2006-11-02 Suwon, South Korea Start 1.1 47+ unassisted |Peace Queen Cup: Group B

Broadcasting career Whitehill was paired with Beth Mowins as a color commentator on ESPN's tertiary broadcast team for the telecasts of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. She has also worked the sidelines for Fox Soccer Channel and for 2012 men's and women's NCAA College Cup matches on ESPNU.

Whitehill worked as a commentator for ESPN3's coverage of the UEFA Women's Euro 2017. She was also the color commentator for the NWSL Game of the week between the Washington Spirit and Boston Breakers on August 12, 2017.

Coaching career In March 2016, Whitehill was named Assistant Coach and Club Ambassador of the Boston Breakers. Whitehill worked as a coach for Needham Soccer Club during the 2017 season, before being announced as the head coach of the girls soccer program at Wellesley High School later that year.

Advocacy Whitehill is an advocate for the rights of women to participate in sports. On February 1, 2006, she testified at a committee hearing of the United States Senate in support of Title IX, the civil rights law that, among other things, provides women and girls the same opportunities to participate in school sports that boys and men are offered. In her testimony, she described having to play on boys' soccer teams as a young girl in Alabama because there were no opportunities for girls to play organized soccer there at the time.

Personal life Whitehill married Dr. Robert Whitehill, a pediatric Cardiology Fellow at Children's Hospital Boston and Boston Medical Center, on New Year's Eve, 2005.