Crystal Dunn's soccer career saw it all.
She was a forward, a midfielder and a defender. She was a college phenom, an NWSL champion, a World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medalist. She was a young player trying to establish herself on the U.S. Women’s National Team before becoming a mother and veteran leader shaping the next generation of the team.
Each chapter brought its own challenges and achievements, its own setbacks and championships. So, when Dunn announced her retirement earlier this year, it was a decision with which she felt at peace.
“I really have done everything, and there's not really anything that I'm wanting to chase anymore,” Dunn said. “I don't want to prove anything anymore. I feel like I did all that for so long. I’ve lived so many lives as a player. I'm good. The sport is in good hands, and I feel like I've left it better than when I found it.”
Retirement for Dunn means more time with her family and son, Marcel, as well as exploring new projects and, for once, setting her own routine. But for her, the greatest gift of the last nine months has been finallyreflecting on her storied career.
“When you're playing, you don't really get the time to celebrate,” she said. “You're always chasing trophies, chasing the next big thing. I've used a lot of this time to sit with myself and actually remember what it is that I just got done doing, celebrating the long career that I had, filled with a lot of success and a lot of learnings.”
The Player Who Kept Evolving
The first of Dunn’s many soccer lives began in Rockville Centre, N.Y., where she began playing at four years old. She was named New York Gatorade Player of the Year to cap her decorated high school career before heading to the University of North Carolina, where she quickly became one of the country’s top collegiate players.
By the time she left Chapel Hill in 2013, Dunn had helped UNC to another national championship, won the MAC Hermann Trophy awarded to the nation’s top college soccer player and recorded 31 goals in 80 appearances as a midfielder. At the same time, she was making her mark with the U.S. Youth National Teams, most notably playing every minute of the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to help lead the USA toits third tournament title.
Dunn made her USWNT debut on Feb. 13, 2013, and earned several call-ups over the next two years while competing as a striker with the Washington Spirit in the NWSL. Her success at the youth and club level established Dunn as one of the rising stars in the country, but she could not break into the USA’s deep roster of forwards on the USA’s 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup roster.
It was one of the first major setbacks in Dunn’s career, but she turned her disappointment into motivation. That same year, she won the NWSL Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player awards, earning her way back onto the USWNT and remaining there for the next decade.
“(Not making the 2015 Women’s World Cup roster) was a very pivotal moment in my career where I learned that being told you're not good enough now doesn't mean that you'll never be good enough,” she said. “I worked harder, I worked smarter, and I learned more about myself. I had to grow. I had to evolve. It feels uncomfortable, but until you go through that, you'll never know the potential that you can actually reach.”
