Reputation Precedes Heinrichs to Irvine

Tuesday’s introduction of April Heinrichs as the new UC Irvine women’s soccer coach was notable for what was not said.

UCI Athletic Director Bob Chichester never mentioned “world champion” or “Olympic gold medal winner.”

Heinrichs’ name can stand alone.

“Her reputation precedes her,” Chichester said of the coach who stepped down in January after five years in charge of the U.S. women’s national team.

It is safe to say that Heinrichs is the highest-profile coach ever signed by the university in any sport. And that fact raises a question.

Why UCI?

“My first response is, ‘Why not? Are you kidding?’ ” Heinrichs said. “I think this is a diamond in the rough ... in the future this can be one of the best soccer programs. I think it’s a real possibility.

“Between the beautiful campus and its proximity to some of the most talented players in the country, for me this was a slam dunk.”

The decision to become the Anteaters’ coach is a huge move on more than one level for Heinrichs.

First, she has to switch coasts.

“I’ve been around Washington, D.C., for almost 22 years now,” Heinrichs said. “So that’s kind of become home. That was the hurdle for me. Could I make the decision to go 3,000 miles away from home?”

Having spent considerable time in California with the national team, which went 87-17-20 during her tenure, the move was not an insurmountable hurdle.

“I’m familiar with it,” Heinrichs said of Southern California. “It’s always been a place I’ve been drawn to.”

Second, and more important, she is moving from coaching -- and sometimes clashing with -- the elite international athletes that she led to the gold medal at the Athens Olympics last year to a UCI team that has struggled to make its mark in the not-especially challenging Big West Conference.

It’s a big step down.

Heinrichs, 41, has coached at Princeton, Maryland and Virginia. Chances are she could have walked into a job at any one of therecognized college powers in women’s soccer whenever a position opened.

Instead, she opted to come to Southern California, where UCLA Coach Jillian Ellis -- who doubles as the U.S. under-21 national coach -- already has the high ground. Ellis has led the Bruin women to the NCAA final in each of the last two seasons, to the semifinals three years in a row and to the tournament in each of her seven seasons.

“I think there is so much pressure on her already I don’t know that my presence is going to dent her,” Heinrichs said. “Eventually, we will recruit head to head. But she should be very secure in the head start that she has.

“Before Jillian Ellis, UCLA wasn’t even on the women’s soccer map. Seeing what she has done at UCLA has really contributed to my belief of what we might be able to do here at UCI.”

Heinrichs succeeds Marine Cano, who coached the Anteaters for the last 12 years but resigned after UCI went 5-12-2 in 2005 and 4-14-2 the year before.

The squad Heinrichs inherits is made up entirely of California players, most from Southern California. In all likelihood, that will change.

Heinrichs’ status as captain of the 1991 world champion U.S. team, as assistant coach of the 1996 Olympic gold medal-winning team and as coach of the U.S. team that won the silver medal at the Sydney Olympics and the gold in Athens gives her unparalleled entree as a recruiter.

Elite players from out of state and even overseas could be in UCI’s future.

“I think with her coaching the national team, they’ll definitely want to come here,” freshman forward Megan Ortiz said.

Will Heinrichs’ name draw players who might otherwise not have considered UCI?

“I’m hoping so,” Heinrichs said.

Meanwhile, she has to build the foundation.

“It was scary for me at first because I wanted to make sure that the resources would allow us to be competitive,” she said. “There’s no sense getting in a water balloon fight without any water in your balloons.”

Assured by Chichester that the resources would be made available, Heinrichs accepted the post.

“The two biggest reasons why I was initially interested was the UC system [because of its academics] and the second thing was really the quality of player you are working with and the percentage of players that are good players in California and how you can build a great foundation with in-state talent,” she said.

“Experience tells me that we can see some positive results even in the next couple of years. How that pans out in terms of wins and losses, I’m not sure.

“Realistically, we have to see if we can be competitive fairly quickly in the league. And then see if we can be competitive regionally.”

The UCI players are fired up by the change.

“We’re very excited as a team,” said junior defender Lauryn Birkinshaw, the Anteaters’ captain. “Hopefully, with what she knows she can help our team to do some good things. I really think it can turn the program around.”

Heinrichs, who in 1998 became the first woman inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame, is equally positive.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “It’s a challenge. This fits me. UCI fits me.”