Former Rutgers Soccer Star Denise Reddy Headed to the Olympics as Assistant Coach

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 actually played on an AstroTurf field that lacrosse plays on now. That was our match field."

Later this month the field she coaches on will be in Paris for the Olympic Games.

Although she has coached soccer 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 actually 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 degrees in exercise science and communications, 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, 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."