Jenny Ruiz-Williams

Jennifer Marie Ruiz Brown (born 9 August 1983), known in the United States as Jenny Ruiz-Williams, is a US-born Mexican football coach and former professional player who played as a defender. She is currently the head coach of the UNLV Rebels women's soccer team.[4] As a player, Ruiz-Williams played for Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Mexico women's national football team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ruiz and the second or maternal family name is Brown.
Jenny Ruiz-Williams
Ruiz-Williams playing for Seattle Reign FC in 2013
Personal information
Full name Jennifer Marie Ruiz Brown[1]
Date of birth (1983-08-09) 9 August 1983[1]
Place of birth Anaheim, California, United States[2]
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 UNLV Rebels (head coach)
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 UNLV Rebels
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 Bay Area Breeze
2013 Seattle Reign FC 7 (0)
International career‡
2003–2016 Mexico 36[3] (4)
Managerial career
2018 CSUN Matadors (assistant)
2019 Oregon State Beavers (assistant)
2020– UNLV Rebels
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 August 2013
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 09:44, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

Early life

Ruiz-Williams was born in Anaheim, California and attended Corona High School in Corona, California.[5][6] At Corona, she was a Mountain View All-League selection and three-time MVP. In 1998, she was selected to the 1998 Mountain View First Team. She played with the Olympic Development Program district and state team in 1998 and 1999. In 2001, she was named Citrus Belt 2001 Athlete of the Year and 2001 Corona-NorCo District Athlete of the Year.[6]

In 2000, Ruiz-Williams played with the Southern California Blues U-16 and helped the team win a national title. She helped the Southern California Blues U-17 team place second at the National Championship.[6]

College career

Ruiz-Williams attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and played for its women's soccer team from 2001 to 2004. During her freshman year in 2001, she played in 20 games of the season with one start against Kansas in which she scored two goals. She scored a last-minute goal against league rival BYU in the Mountain West Conference championship game.

In 2003, as part of the team's defense that allowed just 27 goals the entire season, Ruiz-Williams helped the team tie the school record. She was named to both the All-MWC Second Team, and to the MWC All-Tournament Team.[6]

In 2004, Ruiz-Williams started 18 of 18 games (missing one game due to a red card) and led a defense that only allowed 15 goals all season (0.76 per game). She was named to the Soccer Buzz Team All-Region, First Team All Mountain West Conference, and First Team Mountain West Conference Tournament teams.[6][7][8][9]

Club career

Bay Area Breeze

From 2011 to 2012, Ruiz-Williams played for the Bay Area Breeze in the Women's Premier Soccer League.[10] As captain of the 2012 team, she scored four goals and started all 10 games in the WPSL season and all 4 games during the UK tour. Ruiz-Williams led an offense from the attacking midfield position that went 4–0 on the UK tour. She scored a goal and had an assist in the team's 2–0 victory over Liverpool L.F.C.[11]

During the 2011 season with the Breeze, Ruiz-Williams signed for the last game of the season and playoffs and helped the team win the WPSL Pacific North Division Championship.[12]

Seattle Reign FC

In 2013, as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, Ruiz-Williams joined Seattle Reign FC in the NWSL.[13][14] She made seven appearances for the club during the inaugural season, tallying 386 minutes on the defensive line.[15][16]

International career

As of December 2012, Ruiz-Williams has 22 caps with the Mexico women's national football team and three goals. She began training with the Mexico women's national football team in 2003 and played in the 2003 Australia Cup.[17] She had seven full international caps for the team that qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

In 2011, after a seven-year hiatus from soccer, Ruiz-Williams returned to the national team and scored the game-winning goal against Colombia in the Pan American Games, resulting in the team winning the bronze medal. This was Mexico's second bronze medal for women's soccer at the Pan American Games.[18]

In January 2012, Ruiz-Williams represented Mexico at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers in Vancouver, British Columbia, scoring two goals and providing one assist.[19][20][21]

Coaching career

In June 2012, Ruiz-Williams was a guest coach at the Julie Foudy Leadership Academy. She also coached for the Palo Alto Soccer Club, until she moved to Tennessee.[22][23][24]

Ruiz-Williams became the head coach at her alma mater in December 2019.[4] She previously served as assistant coach at Oregon State Beavers and CSUN Matadors.[25]

Personal

Ruiz-Williams is married to Kevin Williams and together they are parents of two children.[26]

During a hiatus from soccer after graduating from UNLV, Ruiz-Williams taught two years in the inner-city of Los Angeles, California with Teach for America (AmeriCorps). She later moved to Brazil, where her second child was born, and worked alongside her husband as Christian missionaries in the interior of the country.

See also

References
  1. "FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 – List of Players: Mexico" (PDF). FIFA. 28 May 2015. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. "J. Ruiz". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  3. "Profile". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  4. "Jenny Ruiz-Williams". UNLV Rebels. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  5. "Southern California Blues Alumni". Southern California Blues. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  6. "Jenny Ruiz player bio". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  7. "All-Region Rebels". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  8. "UNLV Rebels Overall Team Statistics (as of Aug 01, 2005)". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  9. "Magliulo, Abdalla Named MWC's Best". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  10. "Bay Area Breeze Sign Mexican National Team Member Jennifer Ruiz-Williams, 6 More Players to Roster". Women's Premiere Soccer League. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  11. "Visitors Breeze Past the Reds". Liverpool Football Club. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  12. "Women's Professional Soccer Team BREEZE Season Recap". Pleasanton Rage. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  13. "Player distribution sees NWSL take shape". FIFA. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  14. "New Women's League Allocates Players". New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  15. "Jennifer Ruiz Williams". Soccer Way. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  16. "From the Treadmill to the Pitch: Jenny Ruiz, Seattle Reign FC". World Sports Show. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  17. "Ruiz Takes Her Soccer Game Down Under". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  18. "Mexico's Jennifer Ruiz". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  19. "OLYMPICS: Leroux takes fifth at home". ESPN. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  20. "U.S. Women's National Team Ready to Face Mexico with First Place in Group B on the Line". US Soccer. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  21. "La Selección Femenil Aseguró su Pase a Semifinales Del Preolímpico 2012". Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociacion, A.C. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  22. "Mastery From a Million Mistakes". Positive Coach. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  23. "Palo Alto Soccer Club 04G Blue Roster". Nor Cal Premier. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  24. "Soccer signups". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  25. "Kagan adds Ruiz-Williams to Women's Soccer Staff". Oregon State Beavers. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  26. "Filmmaker, Players Discuss Challenges Facing Women's Professional Soccer". San Ramon Patch. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
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