By CATHERINE P., DILARA E., GABE C., and ANAHID O.

Watertown Splash staff reporters

   Heather O’Reilly started playing soccer with her three older brothers when she was just 3. It was love at first kick.   Heather, now 27, is a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the US women’s soccer team and now a volunteer coach for the Northeastern University women’s team.

   Heather talked about her career recently after a Northeastern game at Parsons Field in Brookline. She said winning gold again hadn’t sunk in yet. But then she brought out one of her gold medals, which was really heavy!

   “It was a dream come true going to the 2012 London Olympics,” she said.

   When Heather is about finished playing soccer, she wants to coach. Tracey Leone, who is the Northeastern women’s coach -- and was also a member of the US women’s national team -- was Heather’s coach for many years on the US under-19 team.

   “It is fun to share the passion, but sometimes it’s frustrating,” Heather said. “I so badly want to just go out there and play!”

   She is not close to stopping yet. To celebrate their glory for winning yet another gold medal this summer in London with Team USA, the US women’s team is on a victory tour this fall, playing in 10 cities around the country.

   When she was growing up in New Jersey, her brothers got her into soccer and other sports in their backyard. When she was a kid, Heather played forward, but now she plays right midfield.

   Heather said she is really close with her teammates, and a lot of them came to her wedding last year. But she also said that she had other favorite teams.

   “I played on a lot of different teams [growing up],” she said. “I had a lot of fun playing in high school because I think there’s something special about being on a team with your best friends and going to school together and then playing soccer after school, and that brought a lot of joy to me.

   “Those are some of my best soccer memories, actually. Because it was just for fun and it was playing with girls that I had grown up with, and just kind of the school camaraderie around high school sports was a lot of fun.”

   When she started with the Olympic team, she felt she didn’t belong, but once she started playing, she knew she did.

   “I was really nervous at first [playing on the national team], I wasn’t sure why I was there,’’ she said. “Like when a teammate would call for the ball, I would just pass to them because I was kind of scared. And it took a few games for me to really realize that I belonged there and that I was there for a reason, and that the coach thought that I could contribute to the team.

   “At first, I felt like I won some kind of contest, like, ‘Hey, train with the team for a day!’ And I had to almost train myself to know that I belonged there and that I was there for a reason.”

   Heather has competed in three Olympics, and hopes to compete in one more. She has played in Athens, Beijing, and London Olympics.

   Competing in the Olympics is a lot different than watching it on TV.

   “I think there is definitely a lot of pressure when you’re there, so you don’t get to enjoy it as much as some spectators do, because you are very focused on your games and making sure that your body and mind are ready for what you need to accomplish,” she said. “So that’s why it’s really fun after our competition is over, to be able to take a breath and go and enjoy the Olympic experience, go see other events and meet people and really try to embrace the entire experience.” 

   She said her favorite Olympics would have to be London because that’s where the best and most famous soccer stadiums are.

   “I think what separated London from the other Olympic Games that I’ve been able to compete in is how cool it was for us to play in some of the most famous soccer stadiums in the world,’’ she said. “I’m a Manchester United fan, so for us to play in Manchester United’s stadium was really cool.”

   She says she will prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics in a while, but right now is letting her body and mind rest.

   “To be a professional athlete, you definitely have to take care of your body in every way, and that means staying very fit,” she said. “It means eating right, and getting a lot of rest. My body is my instrument, so I try to take care of it.

   “I think that it’s important to sometimes let your body and your mind rest and to take a little bit of time to celebrate what we were able to accomplish this summer, but very soon I’ll be back in my training to prepare for Rio.”

(For information on the Northeastern women's soccer team, go to 

http://gonu.com/index.aspx?path=wsoc.)

--Oct. 27, 2012--