Alabama soccer will add Christine Nairn to its coaching staff, head coach Wes Hart announced Monday.
A former U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder, Nairn will take her second job as a coach after playing professional soccer for nine years and retiring in 2021. She previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Houston in 2024.
“We hit a home run with this hire,” head coach Wes Hart said. “When I heard Christine Nairn wanted to begin coaching full-time, I knew this was the coach we had to get.”
The native of Annapolis, Maryland, first burst onto the soccer scene as a player from 2004 to 2007, when she attended Archbishop Spalding High School. There, she became the all-time leader in assists, goals and points and was also a three-time All-American.
During her senior year of high school, Nairn was called up to the United States Women’s National Team and was the youngest member to attend the training camp. She also played for the United States U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-20 teams and participated in all six games for the team that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Nairn spent her collegiate career at Penn State, where she became a three-time All-American. In her senior season, she was a first-team All-American and a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the best soccer player in the country.
After her collegiate career ended, Seattle Reign FC selected Nairn in the first round of the National Women’s Soccer League draft. Over the next nine seasons, she became the first NWSL player to make 150 league appearances and was just one of seven players to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists when she retired in 2021.
“There are not many coaches out there with a playing résumé as impressive as Christine’s,” Hart said. “She will be a tremendous role model and resource for our players, many of whom have aspirations of playing professional soccer one day.”
After retiring, Nairn originally planned to train to become a firefighter, but she appears to be holding off on those plans and is staying within the sport she played her entire life. At just 34 years old, she will bring youth to the coaching staff.
“Alabama soccer has everything you’d want in a university, but what sold me was the people within the program,” Nairn said. “Wes and his staff have created an environment that not only pushes the players to compete everyday, but also strives to be the best version of themselves.”
