Michele Houchen

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Michele Houchen
Personal information
Full name Michele Houchen
Date of birth (1965-09-23) September 23, 1965 (age 59) [1]
Place of birth Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) [1]
Position(s) Striker [2]
Youth career
Oakville SC
International career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1987 Canada 5 (2)

Michele Houchen (born September 23, 1965) is a Canadian retired soccer player who played as a striker. [2] She made five appearances and scored two goals for the Canada national team. [1] She currently serves as the Girls Junior Academy head coach for Blue Devils FC. [3]

Contents

Early life and career

Houchen was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1965, [1] and raised in Scarborough. [4] [2] She began playing soccer at the age of 15. [2] In 1985, she moved with her family to Oakville, Ontario, where she joined the Oakville Soccer Club. [4] In 1986, she won the Canada Soccer Women's All-Star Championship. [1]

International career

In July 1986, Houchen was one of the 23 players selected to participate in the first-ever Canada national team camp in Winnipeg, Manitoba. [1] On July 15, 1987, at the age of 21, she made her debut for the national team in a 2–0 friendly loss to Sweden at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota. [1] [5] Later that year, she made the roster for the 1987 Women's World Invitational Tournament in Taiwan. [1] On December 11, she scored twice in a 2–0 win over Hong Kong in Kaohsiung City. [6] [7] On December 19, she made her 5th and final national team appearance, in a 4–0 loss to the United States in Taipei. [8] Houchen was part of the national team player pool for a total of five years, from 1986 to 1991. [3]

Later life and coaching career

In 2002, Houchen was player-coach for the Oakville Storm, a team part of the Oakville Soccer Club, [9] and helped them win both the Ontario Women's Cup and the Jubilee Trophy. [4] [10] [1] In 2004, she was named as an assistant coach for the Ontario provincial team, and the team went on to win gold at the National All-Star Championship. [11] In 2005, she was player-coach for the Oakville Panthers as they won gold at the World Masters Games, in the age 38–44 category. [12] [11]

In 2015, Houchen founded Future Girls Soccer, an all-girls soccer academy based in Oakville. [13] As of 2022, she serves as the Girls Junior Academy head coach for Blue Devils FC. [3] Before joining the Blue Devils, she was a development director with Oakville SC. [14] [11] [15]

Personal life

Houchen attended Sheridan College. [1] She is an insurance broker. [2] In 2007, she was inducted into the Oakville Sports Hall of Fame. [2]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Canada [1]
198752
Total52
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Houchen goal. [1]
List of international goals scored by Michele Houchen
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1December 11, 1987 Kaohsiung City, Taiwan Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 1–02–01987 Women's World Invitational Tournament
22–0

Honours

Club

Oakville SC

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Michele Houchen player profile". Canada Soccer Association. January 28, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Agro, Carly (June 16, 2009). "Competitive fires still burn for Ont. soccer coach Michele Houchen". CBC Sports . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "TECHNICAL TEAM". Blue Devils FC . Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Michele Houchen - Oakville Sports Hall of Fame (Video). Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  5. "Canada 0 - 2 Sweden". Canada Soccer Association. January 20, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  6. "This Day in Football from 10-16 December". Canada Soccer Association. July 19, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  7. "Canada 2 - 0 Hong Kong". Canada Soccer Association. January 20, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  8. "Canada 0 - 4 USA". Canada Soccer Association. January 20, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Canada Soccer 2022 Yearbook of Champions, Records & Results". Canada Soccer Association. May 17, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Canada - List of Ontario Cup Winners (Canadian Amateur Club Cup)". RSSSF . Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Each one has earned their place in history". Burlington Post . February 24, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  12. "World Masters Games Soccer" (PDF). World Masters Games . Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  13. Kuiperij, Jon (November 10, 2015). "New soccer academy in Halton designed to provide female players with female coaching". Oakville Beaver. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  14. "OSC Celebrity Game". Oakville Beaver. July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  15. "All-Oakville final in Barrie". Burlington Post . June 17, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2022.