Former New Zealand goalkeeper Jenny Bindon will be making her way back across the Pacific after getting the call-up to join the University of California, Los Angeles Women’s soccer team as goalkeeper coach.

Bindon’s experience on the field in the 2007 and 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cups and the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in addition to her extensive career in New Zealand national team coaching attracted UCLA women’s team head coach Amanda Cromwell to the new recruit.

“We’re really excited for Jenny to join the UCLA soccer programme,” she said.

“She adds a wealth of experience as a player and a coach, and our players are going to reap the benefits of learning from someone like Jenny, who has done so much in her life both in and out of soccer.”

Bindon’s new role follows her 2016 season as co-coach of the Takapuna senior men’s team in New Zealand third tier Northern League second division, making her the second ever female coach in the 52-year history of the competition.

The 77-capped Football Fern has also served as the assistant coach and goalkeeper coach for the New Zealand U-17 Women’s team, and goalkeeper coach for the New Zealand U-20 and senior women’s teams.

Before kicking off her coaching career, Bindon attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she played football, tennis and basketball before enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard. She finished her university playing career at Lewis University, Illinois, where she played soccer and basketball.

As the highest capped goalkeeper in New Zealand history, Bindon has been a part of huge milestones for the nation’s women’s team, playing every minute at the 2012 Olympics to lead the Football Ferns to a quarterfinal finish, and leading New Zealand to runner-up finishes at the 2008 Peace Queen Cup and 2011 Cyprus Cup.

“She’s played multiple sports at the collegiate level, been in the Coast Guard, played in the Olympics and World Cup. She’s done it all, and all of that experience has moulded her into the coach that she is today,” Cromwell said.

“It’s exciting for our goalkeepers to have a full-time goalkeeper coach and for our staff to add a colleague who can bring her ideas and expertise to our programme.”