Cindy Walsh

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Cindy Walsh

| image =

| fullname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=y|1979|09|13}}{{Canada Soccer player|id=3297}}

| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada

| height = 168 cm

| position = Defender

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Saint-Bruno

| youthyears2=

| youthclubs2=FC Brossard

| youthyears3=

| youthclubs3= CS Longueuil

| youthyears4= 2000

| youthclubs4= FC Sélect Rive-Sud

| collegeyears1 = 2000–2003

| college1 = Hartford Hawks

| collegecaps1 = 80

| collegegoals1 = 12

| years1 = 2001

| clubs1 = Laval Dynamites

| caps1 =

| goals1 =

| years2 = 2002

| clubs2 = Toronto Inferno

| caps2 =

| goals2 =

| years3 = 2003–2006

| clubs3 = Western Mass Lady Pioneers

| caps3 =

| goals3 =

| years4 = 2007–2010

| clubs4 = Laval Comets

| caps4 =

| goals4 =

| years5 = 2012–2014

| clubs5 = Laval Comets

| caps5 =

| goals5 =

| years6 = 2019

| clubs6 = FC Sélect Rive-Sud

| caps6 = 13

| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2022

| clubs7 = CS St-Hubert

| caps7 = 3

| goals7 = 0

| managerclubs1 = Laval Comets

| manageryears1 = 2013–2015

| managerclubs2 = AS Varennes AAA

| manageryears2 = 2016–2019

| managerclubs3 = CS St-Hubert (women)

| manageryears3 = 2020–2022

| nationalyears1 = 1999

| nationalteam1 = Canada U20

| nationalcaps1 = 6

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 1998–2010

| nationalteam2 = Canada

| nationalcaps2 = 24

| nationalgoals2 = 0

| pcupdate = July 10, 2022

| ntupdate =

}}

Cindy Walsh (born September 13, 1979) is a Canadian retired soccer player who played as a defender. She has been a member of the Canada women's national team.

College career

She attended the University of Hartford,{{Cite web|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/hartfordhawks.com/documents/2019/8/7/2019_WSoccer_Record_Book.pdf|page=21|title=Hartford Hawks - Women's Soccer Record Book|access-date=24 August 2020|archive-date=20 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820181657/https://s3.amazonaws.com/hartfordhawks.com/documents/2019/8/7/2019_WSoccer_Record_Book.pdf|url-status=dead}} playing for the NCAA Division 1 Hartford Hawks on a full athletic scholarship. She started 80 games, missing only 3 because of emergency surgery to remove a ruptured appendix in 2000. She was voted Rookie of the Year{{cite web|url=https://americaeast.com/news/2001/11/8/786911.aspx|date=November 8, 2001|title=Kayulu, Engman Easr Top Women's Soccer Honors|work=America East Conference}} and named to the conference 1st team in 2000, 2001 and 2003 and named 2nd team in 2002.{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/hartfordhawks/docs/2014-15_ws_history-and-records---fu|title=Women's Soccer Record Book|date=June 30, 2014|work=Hartford Hawks}} She had a career high of 11 assists and 7 goals in 2002, and played a variety of positions from defender, midfielder and striker.{{cite web|url=https://americaeast.com/news/2003/8/19/786932.aspx|title=Hartford Chosen in Women's Soccer Poll|work=America East Conference|date=August 19, 2003}}

Club career

Between 2001 and 2014 she competed in the now defunct semi-professional W-League, which was among the top leagues in North America. In 13 years she played with the Laval Dynamites, Toronto Inferno, Western Mass Lady Pioneers, and Laval Comets.{{cite web|url=http://www.infosoccer.ca/2013/01/18/cindy-walsh-entrainera-les-cometes-de-laval-cette-annee/|trans-title=Cindy Walsh to coach Comètes de Laval this year|date=January 18, 2013|language=fr|title=Cindy Walsh entraînera les Comètes de Laval cette année|work=Info Soccer}} She was named to the W-League All-Conference team in 2008. She was also named league all-star team and named as W-League Defender of the Year in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://bayareabreeze.com/w-league-coaching-spotlight/|title=W-League Coaching Sportlight|date=August 6, 2014|work=Bay Area Breeze}} In 2019, she played with FC Sélect Rive-Sud in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec.{{Cite web|url=http://plsq.ca/actualites/cindy-walsh-ajoute-la-plsq-f-a-son-impressionnant-parcours|title=Cindy Walsh Ajoute la PLSQ à son Impressionnant Parcours|language=fr|trans-title=Cindy Walsh Adds PLSQ-F to her Impressive Run|date=June 5, 2019|first=Sébastien|last=Gauthier|work=Première Ligue de soccer du Québec}}

International career

She joined the Canadian senior national team when she was 18 years old.{{Cite web|url=https://www.versants.com/cindy-walsh-sattend-a-une-hausse-des-inscriptions-dans-les-clubs/|trans-title=Cindy Walsh expects soccer club registrations to surge after Women's World Cup|date=July 8, 2019|first=Frédéric|last=Khalkhal|title=Cindy Walsh s'attend à une hausse des inscriptions dans les clubs de soccer après la Coupe du monde féminine|language=fr|work=Les Versants}} In 1998, she played in the CONCACAF Women's Championship, which they won and secured a qualifying spot for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.{{cite web|url=http://www.arsrs.com/fr/publication/nouvelle/portrait_de_cindy_walsh_-_2015_annee_du_soccer_feminin.html|trans-title=Portrait of Cindy Walsh - 2015 Year of Women's Soccer|language=fr|date=August 7, 2015|title=Portrait De Cindy Walsh - 2015 Année du Soccer Féminin|work=ARSRS}} She was captain of the U20 Women’s national team in 1999 at the Pan American games, participating in all games, and helping the team to a 4th place finish. In 2010, Walsh was called back to the senior national team for a training camp in Cyprus and helped contribute to winning the 2010 Cyprus Cup after a 10 year absence with the team.{{Cite web|url=https://canadasoccer.com/news/canada-announces-roster-for-camp-in-cyprus/|title=Canada Announces Roster for Camp in Cyprus|work=Canadian Soccer Association|date=February 17, 2010}}

Coaching career

She began her coaching career with the Laval Comets in 2013, serving as a player-coach,{{cite web|url=https://www.lechodelaval.ca/actualites/sports/161844/un-nouveau-defi-pour-cindy-walsh|date=June 9, 2013|trans-title=A new challenge for Cindy Walsh|first=Claude-André|last=Mayrand|language=fr|work=L'Êcho de Laval|title=Un nouveau défi pour Cindy Walsh}} making it all the way to the W-League finals in first season and being named coach of the year. From 2009 to 2016, she was assistant technical director at the Association régionale de soccer de la Rive-Sud and School Programs Educator at Collège-Français de Longueuil, De Mortagne School in Boucherville and Heritage Regional High School.{{cite web|url=http://www.infosoccer.ca/2016/07/14/cindy-walsh-choisie-par-le-nouveau-club-as-varennecs-st-amable/|work=Info Soccer|trans-title=Cindy Walsh chosen by the new AS Varenne / CS St-Amable club|language=fr|title=Cindy Walsh choisie par le nouveau club AS Varenne/CS St-Amable|date=July 14, 2020}}{{cite web|url=http://justesoccer.com/amateur/cindy-walsh-retrouver-competition-club/|trans-title=Cindy Walsh: "Rediscovering competition in a club"|date=March 10, 2017|language=fr|title=Cindy Walsh : " Retrouver la compétition en club "|work=Just eSoccer}} She has also led the women's selection for the Quebec Games on several occasions and work at Soccer Quebec's High Performance Center.{{cite web|url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/1171596/soccer-feminin-exil-joueuses-equipe-canada-europe-etats-unis-cindy-walsh-gabrielle-carle|trans-title=Staying Home Not an Option for Canadian Soccer Players|language=fr|title=Rester à la maison, pas une option pour les joueuses de soccer canadiennes|date=June 5, 2019|first=Alexandra|last=Piché|work=Ici Radio-Canada Télé}}

In 2020, she was announced as the head coach of the women's team of CS St-Hubert, making them the first club in the PLSQ with a female head coach.{{Cite web|url=http://justesoccer.com/quebec/plsq-feminine/st-hubert-se-lance-en-plsq-feminines-avec-cindy-walsh/|trans-title=St-Hubert launches into women's PLSQ with Cindy Walsh!|date=February 18, 2020|title=St-Hubert se lance en PLSQ féminines avec Cindy Walsh!|language=fr|work=Just eSoccer}}

Personal life

Her sister Amy Walsh was also a player for the Canadian women's national team.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/amy-walsh-womens-soccer-canada-hall-game-christine-sinclair-john-herdman/|title=Canadian soccer veteran Amy Walsh looks back on Hall of Fame career|first=Sandra|last=Prusina|date=June 19, 2017|work=Sportsnet}}