By any name, Pearce still plays role in soccer and loves it
For Christie Pearce, retirement looks an awful lot like she’s still working.
Pearce, known for much of her playing career as Christie Rampone recently went back to using her maiden name on her jersey, formally retired from the U.S. national team earlier this year.
The 41-year-old defender didn’t walk away from the game entirely. She still grinds it out for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Sky Blue.
“My game’s a lot more mental than it is physical. Obviously, I still have my speed and I can run down players,” she said. “But I’m having fun. That’s the best part of it. I had my international career, I’m so grateful for that. But now I get to play with some younger players that give me energy, and I give back.”
As the most veteran player in the women’s pro league, Pearce is eyeing an eventual transition from player to coach. Sky Blue is a good place to start. The team is full of young talent, including Raquel Rodriguez, last season’s NWSL Rookie of the Year, and dynamic 23year-old Australian forward Sam Kerr.
But Pearce’s main role is guiding and anchoring a backline that includes Kayla Mills, the fourth overall pick in the league draft earlier this year, and Mandy Freeman, the 10th pick. Both played at USC, which won last year’s NCAA College Cup championship game.
Sky Blue also plays a rookie at goalkeeper: Kailen Sheridan out of Clemson.
Those youngsters are starting to have a real impact for New Jersey. The team is coming off a 3-1 road victory against the Portland Thorns, which popped Sky Blue into third place in the league standings behind the North Carolina Courage and the Chicago Red Stars. Last year, Sky Blue finished seventh among the NWSL’s 10 teams.
“We have very, very gifted young players that have so much potential and that are so fun to work with. Especially myself, being in the back, with a lot of young players,” she said.
“Mandy and Kayla are amazing, and they get better each and every game. People are starting to figure them out. It’s hard to break down. We have a great unit from the forwards all the way to the back, but our young rookies are doing really well.”
Pearce’s international career spanned two decades and she played under six coaches for the national team.
She won three Olympic gold medals and two World Cups. She played on the 1999 World Cup team that won the title at the Rose Bowl then was on the roster for the 2015 World Cup in Canada, joining fellow veteran Abby Wambach in receiving the championship trophy after a 5-2 victory against Japan.
Pearce earned 311 caps, second most in international history behind former teammate Kristine Lilly.
A New Jersey native, Pearce also played for Sky Blue in the Women’s Professional Soccer League. She was a player-coach in 2009, leading the Sky Blue to the inaugural WPS championship. That league folded after the 2011 season.