The Ultimate Teammate: Heather O’Reilly’s Lasting Impact on the USWNT

Heather O’Reilly always wanted to win.

Whether it was as a three-year-old winning the Thanksgiving turkey trot, as a teenager capturing two NCAA championships with the University of North Carolina or as a 30-year-old lifting a FIFA Women’s World Cuptrophy, O’Reilly’s drive and dedication carried her to the top of podiums at every stage of her career.

That career was recently recognized with one of the sport’s highest honors when O’Reilly was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. The midfielder is the eighth-most capped player in U.S. Women’s National Team history with 231 appearances along with 47 goals and 55 assists. She also won three consecutive Olympic gold medals with the U.S. in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

But to those who know O’Reilly best, her legacy extends beyond trophies, caps and statistics.

When she reunited with Meghan Klingenberg on the U.S. Soccer podcast, O’Reilly was introduced as “the ultimate teammate” — a description that reflects the way she approached the game from the very beginning.

On and off the field, O’Reilly was the player teammates could count on. She said that mindset took shape at a young age and was strengthened through the U.S. Youth National Team system. In 2002, she won the FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup with a group that helped shape not only the player she would become, but the teammate she wanted to be.

“That team and that experience was just really important to my formative years and the way that I recognized team composition and how truly important it was,” O’Reilly said. “I have always known my qualities are energy and positivity. I was taught to bring my best values and my best qualities, and anything less is a disservice to the team. So, I took that very seriously. And for me, I loved the feeling of being a connector and being an uplifter.”

At 19, O’Reilly was the youngest player on the U.S. Olympic roster in 2004. By the time she retired from international play in 2016, she had become one of the team’s veterans. Growing up within the National Team environment gave her a unique perspective and helped her connect with teammates across generations.

“I remember being roommates with Brandi Chastain when I was looking for my prom dress,” O’Reilly said. “Fast forward another 13-14 years, I was having this same conversation with Mallory Swanson. I remember sitting there like, ‘Whoa, this is a full circle moment.’ I think that soccer keeps you young a little bit. I never really had a problem relating to the younger kids, bridging those age gaps.”

That ability to bridge generations followed her into the latter stages of her career. O’Reilly continued as one of the older players competing professionally with Arsenal in the Women’s Super League before returning to the U.S. and retiring with NWSL club North Carolina Courage in 2019. Three years later, she came out of retirement for one final chapter with Irish club Shelbourne in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

More than two decades at the highest levels of the game also shaped how she approaches motherhood. O’Reilly welcomed her two sons in 2020 and 2021, and as they begin their own soccer journeys, she hopes to pass along not only her competitiveness but the values that defined her career.

“My determination is one of my superpowers,” O’Reilly said. “If my sons were to have that intensity, that's wonderful. But I always tell them, ‘Win or lose, I love you the same.’ And I’m always asking about the process. ‘Did you work hard? Were you a good teammate? Did you track back after a mistake?’ I want them to know that those sorts of things are what I'm most proud of.”

Even in retirement, O’Reilly’s connection to the game remains constant. She was one of the leaders in bringing women into The Soccer Tournament (TST). She works now as the Head of Women’s Football for Italian club Como 1907, and she still joins pick-up games in Chapel Hill while joking about coming out of retirement for a second time.

Her Hall of Fame playing career may be complete, but O’Reilly continues to influence the sport in the same way she always has – by bringing people together.

“It's like a joining of spirits when you're on a team or when you're rooting for the same team,” she said. “When you're experiencing these crazy highs and lows, it's emotional connection. Although soccer means a lot of things to me, at its core, it really means connection and a deep level of humanity being aligned.”