Heather Combs joins the Pacific women’s soccer team for her second year as the goalkeeper coach. She brings with her over twenty-two years of successful soccer coaching experience and a semi-professional playing background.
Combs is the Head Coach for the Willamette United SC GU12 “Celtic” Classic team. Team “Celtic” finished second in 2011 in both the Oregon Rush Bend Premier Tournament, as well as the Nike Mt. Hood Challenge Tournament. During the fall season team “Celtic” finished first in the Oregon Premier League’s Second Division. She also serves as the club’s Goalkeeping Coach, and a summer camp and clinic staff coach.
As a Head Coach with the Oregon Youth Soccer Association’s 1992 Girls Olympic Development Program, she lead her team to several tournament championships including the Oregon hosted Nike Cup, and a tournament hosted in Texas. She also promoted nine players to the regional team and six players to the national team during those two years, all the while breaking several Oregon records for the number of players held over at the regional and national levels.
Coach Combs arrived in Portland after four years of coaching in Charlotte, North Carolina where she was Director of Coaching, as well as the girls U14 “Tsunamis” Classic Premier Team Head Coach, for Union Soccer Club. During her time in North Carolina Heather also developed one of Charlotte’s premier goalkeeping camps, No Goals Allowed Goalkeeping Academy.
As a former semi-professional player in the United Soccer Women’s League, Combs was a five-year starting goalkeeper for the Indiana Blaze. During this time she helped lead her team to two Midwest Division Championships, one League Quarterfinals, and a Final Four appearance in the 2000 League National Tournament where they finished third.
Prior to that, Combs played four years at Western Michigan University where she was awarded the Defensive MVP Award for three consecutive years. In 1995 while playing for Western, her team won the NCSA National Championship, she was named to the NCSA All-American team, and she also served as Team Captain.
As a youth Combs played for Portage Central High School as the Varsity team’s starting goalkeeper. Her senior year she made the Michigan All-State Team, and she was also named Conference Captain to the Big Eight Conference team.
