| Michele Houchen | |
| Fullname: | Michele Houchen |
| Birth Date: | 1965 9, mf=yes[1] |
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Height: | 1.63m |
| Position: | Striker[2] |
| Nationalteam1: | Canada |
| Nationalyears1: | 1987 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 2 |
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]
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]
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]
In 2002, Houchen was player-coach for the Oakville Storm, a team part of the Oakville Soccer Club, and helped them win both the Ontario Women's Cup and the Jubilee Trophy.[4] [9] [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. 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.[10] [11]
In 2015, Houchen founded Future Girls Soccer, an all-girls soccer academy based in Oakville.[12] 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.[13] [11] [14]
Houchen attended Sheridan College.[1] She is an insurance broker.[2] In 2007, she was inducted into the Oakville Sports Hall of Fame.[2]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | ||||
| 1987 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Total | 5 | 2 | ||
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Houchen goal.[1]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 11, 1987 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1987 Women's World Invitational Tournament | ||
| 2 | 2–0 | |||||