Former Rutgers soccer star Denise Reddy headed to the Olympics as assistant coach

Denise Reddy is no stranger to the Miller Family Soccer Complex, although it didn’t exist when she was a two-time team captain and an All-American in soccer at Rutgers more than 30 years ago.

The professional coach has returned often since then to help out during Rutgers women’s soccer team workouts on the Piscataway campus.

But recently, her stop at Rutgers took on special meaning when she appeared on the field as an assistant coach with the Olympic-bound U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.

“It’s amazing to be able to come back and have an [Olympic] camp in New Jersey before going to the Olympics,” she said, just outside the complex in the heat of an early July afternoon. “I’m honored to be part of the U.S. National Team, but to be able to come back and train at my alma mater is really special.”

Her coaching journey began when she was still a member of the Rutgers team, working with New Jersey’s Olympic Development Program in 1989.

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Thirty-five years later, at age 52, she couldn’t help but appreciate how far she has come.

Among the players she is coaching is another Rutgers grad. Casey Murphy, Class of 2017, is a goalkeeper and also a Jersey girl from Bridgewater . Reddy grew up in Hazlet and now resides in Point Pleasant.

“Casey is a huge part of Rutgers. I’ve trained with her, played against her a little bit in pickup games. And being a Jersey girl,” Reddy said, "that means a lot.”

Reddy couldn’t help but think back to her days as a center-back player, long before the spacious practice facility, saying, “We trained behind the RAC (now Jersey Mike’s Arena), by the baseball field. When I played here, we played on an AstroTurf field that lacrosse plays on now. That was our match field.”

Soon, the field she coaches on will be in Paris for the Olympic Games.

Although she has coached soccer for 35 years, she feels she actually was a better basketball player. Reddy was a varsity letterwinner in both soccer (1988-91) and basketball (1990-93) at Rutgers, winning an A-10 hoops title under legendary coach Theresa Grentz.

“I’ve always loved football,’’ she said, using the international word for soccer. “It was my passion. I was the ball girl for the (North American Soccer League) Cosmos in ’78-’79. Who knows why. No one in my family likes soccer.”

Despite earning a degree in communication in 1993 as a Douglass College student, she chose a career in coaching instead of business.

“I’m not an office person. I love being on the grass, I love developing, plus I can’t sit at a desk for more than five minutes,’’ Reddy said.

While playing for a pro team in the coastal city of Malmo, Sweden, she also coached at a couple of academies. She has also coached for several professional teams in the U.S., both as an assistant and head coach.

“I’ve always been a leader when I played, whether basketball or football. I’ve always been a captain. I’ve always loved the game; breaking it down. I just always had a passion to coach, even through my playing career when I was in Sweden playing professionally.”

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Her college experience, she said, as both a student and athlete, played a major role in her development as a person.

“I do think, this being such a huge university, you have to navigate space,’’ she said. “I think that playing two sports has definitely molded me into a person that can be in multiple situations–from (basketball coach) Theresa Grentz and (soccer coach) Charlie Duccilli. I learned so much and grew for sure.

“Funny story,’’ she said with a smile. “When I got into Rutgers I wanted to be a dancer. So when I told my dad I was going to major in dance,  he said, ‘You’re not going to be an aerobics instructor for the rest of your life, so…no.’”

And now, this.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,’’ she admitted.

What she can comprehend is what this team has going for it.

“I think this is a team that’s going to try and have control, to be organized, to be in a position that when they do lose the ball we can win it back. Yeah, that’s the theme right now.”

Reddy remains tied to the university through several former teammates. More than a dozen keep in touch through a WhatsApp group, many of them every day. They also get together two or three times a year.

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As a senior she was selected second-team All-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She is right up there with the likes of All-Americans Amirah Ali, Carli Lloyd, Beth Schmenti, and Murphy.

Doesn’t seem that long ago she was a 6-year-old kicking around a soccer ball on the Sandy Hook beach.

“I’m proud my name is on that All-American banner,’’ she said, nodding toward Yurcak Field. “I’m proud to be in New Jersey, and I get to do what I love every day. That’s most important to me.”

Now more than ever.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Former Rutgers soccer star Denise Reddy headed to the Olympics as assistant coach