Former U.S. women’s national team head coach Jill Ellis has been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, it was announced on Wednesday night.
She will be inducted as a member of the 2023 class at a ceremony on May 6, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
Ellis’s 17-year-old daughter, Lily Stevenson-Ellis, surprised her with the news Wednesday afternoon at the San Diego Wave FC Holiday Party.
Ellis was elected on the Builder ballot and joined DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan and Lauren Cheney Holiday in the Class of 2023. Builders are listed in three categories: referees, coaches, and owners and administrators. Based on the rotation established in 2020, only coaches were considered for the Class of 2023.
Ellis, the Wave FC president, is the only coach to win two world championships, guiding the USWNT to Women’s World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. She guided the team for seven years to a 106-7-19 record. She also coached the U.S. at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in 2010.
She coached led the USA to eight tournament titles and earned honors as the FIFA World Women’s Coach of the Year (2015, 2019) and the Concacaf Women’s Coach of the Year (2015).
Ellis also coached at the University of Illinois and UCLA.