MIAMI (Jan. 17, 2017) -- Former Canadian National Team star Sharolta Nonen has been named FIU's new head women's soccer coach, Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment
Pete Garcia announced on Tuesday. Nonen comes to FIU after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at East Carolina. She becomes the third head coach in program history.
"I am thrilled to have Sharolta Nonen lead our women's soccer program," Garcia said. "Her soccer experience and contacts throughout the world along with her passion for the sport will help raise the level of our student-athletes and FIU women's soccer."
Nonen was a three-time All-America performer at the University of Nebraska and professional soccer star in the Women's United Soccer Association. She was with the Pirates for the past two seasons and took her first collegiate coaching job two years before, at NAIA-program Georgia Gwinnett College. She served as interim head coach in the 2014 season before heading to ECU.
The Vancouver, British Columbia, native was Nebraska's first-ever African-American player with the Cornhuskers and a three-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American (1996-99) as a defender. Her list of accolades as a Cornhusker includes a First-Team All-America honor as a senior, three first-team all-region selections, a Big 12 Conference Player-of-the-Year award and a trio of First-Team All-Big 12 Conference nods as she helped her alma mater to 80 wins during her four-year career.
"I'd like to thank
Pete Garcia and (Senior Associate Athletic Director)
Julie Berg for this incredible opportunity and for their confidence in my ability to lead the FIU women's soccer program," said Nonen. "I am honored to be a part of FIU athletics and I look forward to meeting my new players and getting on the pitch. I am excited at the opportunity to develop a championship program."
While still playing at Nebraska, Nonen earned a place on the Canadian National Team for the 1999 World Cup. She went on to start all three matches for her native country and earned all-tournament team honors.
Following her college career, she was drafted by the Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association prior to its inaugural season in 2001. She earned two all-star distinctions, was the defender-of-the-year in 2003 and led the club to a pair of first-place finishes in the league.
While continuing to play for the Canadian National Team, she made 63-career international appearances, earned a spot on the 2003 World Cup roster and helped her homeland to its best result in history with a semifinal appearance and fourth-place finish, highlighted by a win over world power China, as she was named to the all-tournament team once again.
After three years with the Beat, Nonen continued to play professionally for Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark from 2005-07, but returned to Atlanta where she became the first player/coach for the Atlanta Silverbacks semi-professional women's team. After 10 years on the pro and international circuits, she retired from playing and began pursuing a coaching career.
A 2000 Nebraska graduate with a degree in sociology, Nonen has assisted mentoring young players within the Olympic Development Program and Region Premier League squads. She holds a United States Soccer Federation Class C coaching license and speaks fluent French.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
