As seven North Carolina Courage players have recently embarked on their FIFA Women’s World Cup journeys in France, one world champion and National Soccer Hall of Famer, Cindy Parlow Cone, makes a daily impact on the North Carolina Football Club and the youth soccer players of our community.

A member of the 1999 U.S. Women’s National Team, Parlow Cone accomplished something few others have in winning the World Cup. She now works with NCFC Youth as Director of Coaching for girls, sharing her knowledge with today’s youth.

Parlow Cone understands the importance of youth development in the sport, as she started playing at a young age and even began college early as a 17-year-old.

“I wasn’t really your typical teenager; I was very intense and very focused,” said Parlow Cone on her decision to enroll at UNC a year early to play. “I definitely wasn’t an adult when I was 17, but I felt like coming to UNC was a great decision for me in all aspects because I felt like I was fully supported and pushed to become not only a better soccer player but a better person.”

As a freshman in college, she began to train with the national team in preparation for the 1996 Olympics. The team won the Gold Medal and then began training for the 1999 Women’s World Cup, which was being hosted by the U.S.

“We had some big crowds for the ‘96 Olympics, but we kind of assumed that it was because it was the Olympics, so people were going to see the U.S. play regardless,” said Parlow Cone. “But then we got to the ‘99 World Cup, and then we were in these big stadiums that were selling out with lots of people coming to watch.”

Parlow Cone started all six of the matches and contributed two goals to what would eventually become an iconic victory for not only the U.S. but for women’s soccer around the world.

“It was really an event where women’s soccer was put on the world stage and was impacting an entire generation of youth players,” said Parlow Cone. “The ‘99 World Cup was really inspiring to all of us not just because of what it did for women’s soccer, but what it did for women’s sports in general.”

When Parlow Cone was asked to give some closing advice to the Courage players representing their countries in the World Cup, she said to “soak up every single second of it because all football eyes are on the World Cup right now.”

After retiring from soccer in 2006, the next step in Parlow Cone’s career was coaching. She served as an assistant coach at UNC from 2007-2012 and then head coach of the Portland Thorns from 2012-2013.

“I dove right into coaching and loved the experience,” said Parlow Cone. “I learned a lot about myself, about coaching and about the business of soccer.”

One experience that Parlow Cone had in Portland with a few of her former players from UNC changed the direction of her involvement with the sport and her coaching career.

“I had some of my kids from UNC drive up to D.C. for one of our games, and I realized it was the best moment that I had had since I left North Carolina to go to Portland,” she said. “I came back from the trip and asked my husband what I was doing because I had really missed working with kids like that.”

Parlow Cone decided that it was time to return to the Triangle area, the place where it all began to do what she felt was right: coach youth soccer. To this day, Parlow Cone continues to coach for NCFC, an organization she loves because of its’ respect for players.

“I feel like with this organization, whether you are talking about the youth or the professionals, everyone is trying to make the right decision for the player, not that we always get it right, but the intent is always each player first,” said Parlow Cone. “For me, that was the reason why I decided to start coaching at NCFC.”

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