TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) -- A former U.S. national team member has joined the Alabama soccer coaching staff.
Christine Nairn was announced as an assistant coach for the Crimson Tide on Monday. The retired midfielder competed for Penn State from 2009-12 and was called up to the national team in 2009. A three-time All-American, Nairn was a 2012 finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the same season she was named Big Ten Midfielder of the Year.
Seattle Reign FC drafted Nairn with the seventh overall pick in the 2013 National Women's Soccer League draft. As an original member of the league, Nairn was the NWSL's first player to reach 150 appearances.
The Maryland native was traded to the Washington Spirit before 2014 season but returned to Seattle for the 2017 campaign. Nairn then suited up for the Orlando Pride before hanging up her cleats with the Houston Dash in 2021.
She was loaned to the Melbourne Victory Football Club throughout her professional tenure. Nairn won the Julie Dolan Medal, which is presented to the best player in Australia's top women's soccer circuit, for the 2018-19 campaign. Nairn was as an assistant coach for the University of Houston in 2024.
"We hit a home run with this hire!" Alabama head soccer coach Wes Hart in a statement. "When I heard Christine Nairn wanted to begin coaching full-time, I knew this was the coach we had to get. There are not many coaches out there with a playing résumé as impressive as Christine's. She will be a tremendous role model and resource for our players, many of whom have aspirations of playing professional soccer one day."
Since Hart took over the Tide in 2015, Alabama has reached the NCAA tournament four times, including the semifinals in 2022. The Tide missed its first NCAA tournament since the 2020-21 season when South Carolina bounced Alabama in the quarterfinals of the 2024 SEC tournament.
"I am excited to join a program as prestigious as the University of Alabama soccer team," Nairn said in a statement. "Alabama soccer has everything you'd want in a university, but what sold me was the people within the program. Wes and his staff have created an environment that not only pushes the players to compete everyday but also strive to be the best version of themselves."