Danielle Fotopoulos

Danielle Fotopoulos

Fotopoulos with the United States national team
Personal information
Full name	Danielle Ruth Fotopoulos
Birth name	Danielle Ruth Garrett
Date of birth	(1976-03-24)March 24, 1976
Place of birth	Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Eckerd College(coach)
Youth career
1990–1993	Lyman High School
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1995	SMU Mustangs	44	(52)
1996–1998	Florida Gators	48	(66)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998	Tampa Bay Extreme	4	(6)
2001–2003	Carolina Courage	53	(27)
2005	Central Florida Krush
International career
1996–2005	United States	35	(16)
Managerial career
2004	LSU
2010–2022	Eckerd
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Danielle Ruth Fotopoulos(néeGarrett;born March 24, 1976) is an Americansoccercoach and former player. Fotopoulos holds the all-timeNational Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA)Division Irecords for goals and points, and was a member of theUniversity of Floridateam that won the 1998 NCAA women's soccer championship, and also theUnited States national teamthat won the1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.She was the head coach of theEckerdwomen's soccer team until 2022.

Early life

Fotopoulos was born inCamp Hill, Pennsylvaniain 1976, the daughter of Bill and Donna Garrett. She grew up inAltamonte Springs, Florida,and attendedLyman High SchoolinLongwood, Floridafrom 1990 to 1994. While inhigh school,she was a varsitylettermanin six different sports—basketball,cross country,soccer,tennis,swimmingandtrack & field.Her high school soccer team won three Florida state championships during her four years on the team.

College career

Fotopoulos initially attendedSouthern Methodist University(SMU) inDallas, Texas,where she played for theSMU Mustangssoccer team from 1994 to 1995. After hersophomoreyear, she transferred from SMU to the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coachBecky Burleigh's newFlorida Gators women's soccerteam for two seasons. She suffered anACLinjury before the start of the 1997 season and returned to the Gators for hersenioryear in 1998. She helped the Gators win the 1998NCAA Women's Soccer Championship,scoring the winninggoalagainstNorth Carolinain the final of the NCAA soccer tournament. During her 1996 and 1998 seasons with the Gators, the team also won both theSoutheastern Conference(SEC) regular season and tournament championships, and she was twice recognized as the SEC Player of the Year. Fotopoulos finished her college career as the NCAA's all-time leader in goals (118) and points (284). She was the 1998–99 recipient of theHonda Sports Awardfor Soccer, recognizing her as the outstanding collegiate women's soccer player of the year.

She graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in 1999, and was inducted into theUniversity of Florida Athletic Hall of Fameas a "Gator Great" in 2008.

Professional career

Fotopoulos played professionally with theCarolina Courageof theWomen's United Soccer Association,winning the league championship in 2002. She was also a member of the United States Women's National Soccer team.

Coaching career

Fotopoulos is married to formerLouisiana State University(LSU) women's soccer team head coachGeorge Fotopoulos.In 2004, she served as co-head coach with her husband atLSU.They finished with an 8–11–1 overall record (2–8–1 in the SEC).In 2006, she became an assistant coach for theFlorida Gators soccerteam at theUniversity of Florida,heralma mater.She currently lives inTampa, Floridawith her husband and their four children. She coached multiple teams at theTampa Bay United Soccer Cluband currently coaches at Florida Premier FC where she is the GIRLS ECNLR Director. She is also a partner for the semi-pro team,Tampa Bay Hellenic;her husband is currently the head coach. From 2010 to 2022, Fotopoulos was the head of coach of theNCAA Division IIwomen's soccer team atEckerd CollegeinSt. Petersburg, Floridafrom 2010 until stepping down in August 2022.

Honors

Individual awards and honors

• WUSA All-Star team selection: 2003
• Second-team All-WUSA: 2002
• Honda Award:1998
• NSCAANational Player of the Year: 1998
• ESPN.com/Soccer TimesNational Player of the Year: 1998
• Soccer America Player of the Year: 1998
• NCAA Final Four Offensive MVP: 1998
• Southeastern ConferencePlayer of the Year: 1996, 1998
• All-American:1995, 1996, 1998
• SEC Tournament MVP: 1996

Team honors

• FIFA Women's World Cup(1999)
• Women's United Soccer AssociationFounders Cup (2002)
• NCAA Women's Soccer Championship(1999)

Statistics

College

Year	Team	GP/GS	Goals	Assists	Total Points
1994	SMU	20/19	20	5	45
1995	SMU	24/23	32	19	85
1996	Florida	22/22	34	13	83
1997	Florida	did not play
1998	Florida	26/26	32	11	75
Totals		92/90	118	48	284

WUSA

Year	Team	GP/GS	Goals	Assists	Total Points
2001	Carolina Courage	21/21	9	5	23
2002	Carolina Courage	21/20	11	10	32
2003	Carolina Courage	12/12	7	6	20
Totals		54/53	27	21	75

W-League

Year	Team	GP	Goals
1998	Tampa Bay Extremes	4	6
2005	Central Florida Krush		9
Totals			15

National team

Year	GP/GS	Goals	Assists	Total Points
1996	2/1	3	2	8
1997	6/0	1	1	3
1998	1/0	0	0	0
1999	17/1	7	4	18
2000	did not play
2001
2002	4/0	1	0	2
2003	did not play
2004
2005	5/1	4	0	8
Totals	35/3	16	7	39

See also

• Florida Gators
• List of Florida Gators soccer players
• List of University of Florida alumni
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members

External links

• "Danielle Fotopoulos, Soccer,Sports Illustrated(February 11, 1999). Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• USSoccer.com, "Danielle Fotopoulos Retires from International Soccer,"press release (February 22, 2007). Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• Soccer Timesprofile
• University of Florida coach bio
• University of Florida player bio