Lindsey Heaps is coming home.
The U.S. women’s national team captain will join NWSL expansion team Denver Summit FC this summer after finishing her contract with French side OL Lyonnes, Heaps and the club announced Monday.
This will be a homecoming in several ways for Heaps, who is from nearby Golden, Colorado and hasn’t played in the NWSL since the 2021 season. Heaps was the first American teenage girl who decided to forgo college and play professionally in Europe when she signed a deal with Paris Saint-Germain after graduating from high school in 2012. She was the No. 1 overall college recruit in the country but wanted to do something different and play overseas.
Heaps returned to the U.S. four years later and played for the Portland Thorns. She won two NWSL Shields, a NWSL title in 2017 (and scored the winning goal), and was named league MVP in 2018 before heading back to France in 2022 to play for Lyonnes.
Heaps’ return to the U.S. is huge for the NWSL, which has seen USWNT stars leave the league for Europe. Naomi Girma (Chelsea), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), Emily Fox (Arsenal) and Crystal Dunn (PSG) are just some of the players who have made big moves overseas in the last year or so. Sam Coffey is reportedly close to joining Manchester City, and Trinity Rodman could be next. Other young Americans have never even played in the NWSL, starting their professional careers in Europe, including Lily Yohannes (Lyonnes), Cat Macario (Chelsea) and Korbin Shrader (Lyonnes).
Read more: USA to Play Argentina, Canada, Colombia in SheBelieves Cup
Heaps, 31, has spent the majority of her career in France. It’s helped shape her. And she’s done what she set out to do, which was to compete in the Champions League and become one of the best players in the world. She’s encouraged young players to give playing in Europe a shot if that was something they were interested in doing as well.
“The way I look at my European career is, I was challenged in a different way,” Heaps told me before the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. “It’s not for everyone, and I understand that. But I think that’s what I needed. I love being immersed into a different culture and playing with different players all over the world.”
Now, she is ready for a new challenge, playing with her hometown expansion team in its first year. Denver Summit FC, as well as Boston Legacy FC, will begin play in 2026. Heaps’ husband, Tyler Heaps, is the sporting director and general manager of MLS expansion team San Diego FC, so she has seen somewhat firsthand what the experience can be like.
“I want you to know that it’s a very tough decision for me,” Heaps said, while speaking in French, in a social media post to fans, “This club is in my heart. I’ve been living here for nearly four years and the football is amazing here. This season, honestly, it’s been incredible with the new staff, the new coach, all the players, the fans. … I’m far from my husband. It’s difficult for my parents to come here. Next season, when I play in Denver, my parents will be able to come to every game, so it means a lot to me.
“I hope that you know for the next five months I will give everything to win everything for the team and the fans. I want to win every title and I will do everything for you and for the team. This team will stay in my heart for my whole life.”
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
