MIAMI (June 16, 2017) -- With a focus on her career leading the FIU Panthers women's soccer program, new FIU Head Coach Sharolta Nonen has been staying in the game this summer by lending commentary of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) games. After spending the spring getting to know the players on this upcoming year's FIU squad, she has spent the time since completing her coaching staff and recruiting, as well as dipping a toe into the broadcasting waters. Nonen had no prior television analysis experience heading into this summer, though her playing resume speaks for itself.
 
The new FIU mentor was the first three-time All-America performer and first Big 12 Player of the Year in Nebraska soccer history. She then played in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) along with a spot on the Canadian National Team. Nonen was a WUSA All-Star and was named one of the top-three defenders in the league. She became the first player-coach in Atlanta Silverbacks history (and is thought to be the first in women's professional history) and coached and played to the team's top finish in program history. She also reached all-star status in the Danish League, leading the Fortuna Hjorring to a first-place finish for the first time in a decade. She was a member of the 2009 W-League Champion LA Sol.
 
The Vancouver, British Columbia, native played 63 career contests for Team Canada, including five Women's World Cup qualifiers and seven WWC contests, in 1999 (including the third-place game) and 2003.
 
The totality of her 14-year collegiate, international and professional playing and coaching history gives her a wealth of experience to talk soccer as an analyst for the NWSL's current crop of talent. Nonen hit the airwaves for the first time on May 21, for a contest featuring Orlando at Seattle. She sat in the booth in a remote location in Dania Beach and offered her take on the action in her role as game analyst. Like most competitors, she was her own harshest critic.
 
"I was happy to promote myself and FIU soccer, but I was the rookie and knew that this would be the starting point," said Nonen, about her first experience. "We met with producers when I arrived and a lot of jargon was thrown around that I did not know. I had to rely on my broadcast partner, Tyler Terens, to guide me through the things that did not make sense to me, since I am not a broadcast professional."
 
"There was a lot going on in my headset, with producers talking to me and prompting me while I was talking and I was trying to listen to Tyler on air while people were talking to me and it was a lot to process since I was not practiced in this. I immediately wanted to get back into another game to do it better next time. I want to be more polished and now I know what to expect. The passion is in the improvement. As I improve, I will want to do it more and more."
 
The games are streamed on team sites and the go90 app. For more information on schedules and broadcasts, click on go90.com or nwslsoccer.com.
 
She will call two more games on June 17^th, giving her that chance to improve on her first experience. She is also on the NWSL schedule to call more action on June 28^th. Nonen will accept games in this moonlighting role based on her recruiting schedule and availability, meaning she will not call games once the team returns to campus in early August. FIU's first regular-season contest is scheduled for August 20.
 
For women's soccer ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWSoccer) for all the latest FIU women's soccer news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.