Ashley O’Brien Heidelberger was hired as an assistant coach for the UH women’s soccer team in April of 2016 and elevated to assistant coach/recruiting coordinator following the 2016 season. Her primary responsibilities include working with the team’s defensive unit, managing the team’s recruiting strategies, and preparing scouting reports and tactical strategies for each opponent.
In 2016, Heidelberger helped orchestrate a UH defense that shut out seven opponents, including three in a row, and held another five to just one goal. Under Heidelberger’s tutelage, Storm Kenui earned second-team all-Big West Conference honors while T.J. Reyno received All-Big West Honorable Mention recognition. In Heidelberger’s first season at Hawai‘i, the Rainbow Wahine enjoyed a 7.0 win improvement from the previous season, the fifth-best turnaround in NCAA Division I in 2016.
In addition to her responsibilities with the Rainbow Wahine, Heidelberger serves as the head coach of the Leahi ’01 Girls Premier club team.
Heidelberger joined Coach Nagamine’s staff after spending the previous two seasons under legendary coach Phil Pincince at Brown University. At Brown, Heidelberger organized a defensive unit that played a key role in helping the Bears to a third-place Ivy League finish in 2015. In her two seasons at Brown, she mentored six All-Ivy League players.
Prior to her appointment at Brown, Heidelberger spent three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Idaho, where she focused on creating practice plans, recruiting efforts, and organizing team travel. After the 2013 season, she served as the interim head coach. Heidelberger helped the Vandals to the Western Athletic Conference semifinal in 2011 and coached four all-WAC players, including three who made the first-team.
Heidelberger also gained experience coaching at the club level with the Moscow United U15 team and worked with the Idaho Olympic Development Program team.
Prior to her coaching career, Heidelberger was a two-sport student-athlete at both the University of Connecticut and the University of San Francisco, running track in addition to playing soccer. She appeared in the 2007 Elite Eight as a member at UConn and helped the Huskies to the 2008 Big East championship game. She was the recipient of UConn’s 2008 A.J. Pappanikou “Unsung Hero” Award.
Heidelberger spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons at the University of San Francisco, where she earned Defensive MVP honors in 2009 and Team MVP honors in 2010. She also ran the 800 for the Dons track and field team, and won the 2010 West Coast Conference championship in the 800 meters, leaving USF with the school record in that event. At USF, Heidelberger was a two-time recipient of the Anne Dolan Award, awarded each year to the school’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete.
Heidelberger graduated from Connecticut in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing and earned her master’s in Sport Management from San Francisco in 2011. She holds a USSF National “C” coaching license, NSCAA Advanced National license, and NSCAA goalkeeper coaching certification. The former Ashley O’Brien married Nick Heidelberger on June 18, 2016.
