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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]

Michele Houchen

Personal information
Full name	Michele Houchen
Date of birth	(1965-09-23) September 23, 1965 (age 57)[1]
Place of birth	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s)	Striker[2]
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Oakville SC
National team
1987	Canada	5	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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 team	Year	Apps	Goals
Canada[1]
	1987	5	2
Total		5	2

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.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	December 11, 1987	Kaohsiung City, Taiwan	Hong Kong	1–0	2–0	1987 Women's World Invitational Tournament
2				2–0

Honours

Club

Oakville SC

• Ontario Women's Cup: 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2002[2][11][10]
• Jubilee Trophy: 2002[9][1]

References

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