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Mitts Returns to Philly

National Team Defender Leaves Boston Breakers After One Season

Oct. 16, 2009

Defender Heather Mitts has signed with the Philadelphia Independence after one season with the Boston Breakers.

Heather Mitts
Heather Mitts appeared in 19 of the Boston Breakers' 20 matches last season. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

The U.S. national team defender and two-time Olympic gold medalist makes her return to Philadelphia after signing with the 2010 Women�s Professional Soccer expansion team as a free agent.

Mitts played with the Philadelphia Charge for three seasons in the WUSA, starting all 51 games for the Charge and helped the club to the WUSA playoffs in the first two years. She was named a WUSA All-Star in 2003.

Mitts has continued to call Philadelphia home, where she lives with fianc� A.J. Feeley, who recently signed with the Carolina Panthers as a free agent. The quarterback played with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2001-03 and again from 2006-08.

The 31-year-old was one of the first faces of the 2009 Boston Breakers. Mitts was allocated to Boston on Sept. 16, 2008 in the WPS allocation of U.S. national team players, along with WUSA-era Breaker veterans Angela Hucles and Kristine Lilly. Mitts saw playing time 19 matches in 2009, including one assist against Washington Freedom on June 24.

�Heather was a pleasure to coach and was a role model for many of the young players with her professional approach to training and fitness,� said Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco. �The Breakers will miss her but we fully understand the rationales behind her decision, as her and her fianc� are making their home in Philadelphia.�

Mitts has been a member of thenational team since 2004. This year she became the 25th player in U.S. history to earn 100 caps, after making her return to the national team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after missing the entire 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup due to a torn ACL.

Prior to her professional soccer career, the Cincinnati native helped lead the University of Florida to its first and only NCAA title in 1999 and was twice named an NSCAA First-Team All-American.







Return from Mitts Returns to Philly to Women's Soccer


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