U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone’s unique career path is a big part of why she wanted a national training center to come together under her stewardship.
Parlow Cone was a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a World Cup winner as a player for the U.S. women’s national team. She holds a USSF “A” coaching license and has won championships as a coach at the professional and collegiate levels. Parlow Cone knows the game beyond the administrative conditions that govern the sport. She’s not just another suit, as they say.
Around the world, it’s believed that having more “football people” in prominent roles within a federation is needed. That’s obviously not an automatic barometer for success, but Parlow Cone believes that her sporting past, and the major events that are coming to the U.S. in the near future, allowed the training center project to ultimately get off the ground.
“Me being a former player, and really seeing what this (national training center) can mean for elite soccer in our country at the national team levels, but then also the coach in me at the youth in the grassroots level, seeing how transformative a facility like this can be for every person in our sport — whether you’re a coach, a player, a referee, or a professional just trying…
