CHICAGO – Dawn Scott, the high performance coach for the U.S. women’s national team the past nine years, has stepped down to return home and take a position with the England Football Association.

A native of Newcastle, England, Scott will hold a position for a second time with the England FA. After her first stint, Scott joined U.S. Soccer in 2011 under former head coach Pia Sundhage and stayed on the USWNT’s coaching staff under head coaches Tom Sermanni and Jill Ellis.

“Dawn is an incredibly hard worker who did a world class job helping prepare our players physically, helping them recover from injuries and helping them reach their highest levels on the field,” USWNT general manager Kate Markgraf said in a statement. “We say goodbye to her with a tremendous amount of gratitude and respect. She cares deeply about the players and the program and her important contribution to a unique part of our history will always be appreciated and never forgotten.”

Scott was on the USA’s staff for three World Cups — two of them championship campaigns — and two Olympic Games, one of which resulted in a gold medal in 2012.

“This was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make,” Scott said in a statement. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with U.S. Soccer and the opportunity I had for my personal and professional growth. I want to say thank you to everyone at the U.S. Soccer Federation, to the players, to the staff and to all the coaches – it has been an honor. I have memories to last a lifetime from the past nine years. I am now looking forward to a career progression and this was an opportune time to continue my professional development in England.”

Markgraf and U.S. Soccer director of high performance James Bunce will begin a search for her replacement immediately.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.