| Cindy Walsh | |
| Birth Date: | 1979 9, mf=y |
| Birth Place: | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Height: | 168 cm |
| Position: | Defender |
| Youthclubs1: | Saint-Bruno |
| Youthclubs2: | FC Brossard |
| Youthclubs3: | CS Longueuil |
| Youthyears4: | 2000 |
| Youthclubs4: | FC Sélect Rive-Sud |
| Collegeyears1: | 2000–2003 |
| College1: | Hartford Hawks |
| Collegecaps1: | 80 |
| Collegegoals1: | 12 |
| Years1: | 2001 |
| Clubs1: | Laval Dynamites |
| Years2: | 2002 |
| Years3: | 2003–2006 |
| Years4: | 2007–2010 |
| Years5: | 2012–2014 |
| Years6: | 2019 |
| Caps6: | 13 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2022 |
| Caps7: | 3 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Managerclubs1: | Laval Comets |
| Manageryears1: | 2013–2015 |
| Managerclubs2: | AS Varennes AAA |
| Manageryears2: | 2016–2019 |
| Managerclubs3: | CS St-Hubert (women) |
| Manageryears3: | 2020–2022 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1999 |
| Nationalteam1: | Canada U20 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 1998–2010 |
| Nationalteam2: | Canada |
| Nationalcaps2: | 24 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Pcupdate: | July 10, 2022 |
Cindy Walsh (born September 13, 1979) is a Canadian retired soccer player who played as a defender. She has been a member of the Canada women's national team.
She attended the University of Hartford,[1] playing for the NCAA Division 1 Hartford Hawks on a full athletic scholarship. She started 80 games, missing only 3 because of emergency surgery to remove a ruptured appendix in 2000. She was voted Rookie of the Year[2] and named to the conference 1st team in 2000, 2001 and 2003 and named 2nd team in 2002.[3] She had a career high of 11 assists and 7 goals in 2002, and played a variety of positions from defender, midfielder and striker.[4]
Between 2001 and 2014 she competed in the now defunct semi-professional W-League, which was among the top leagues in North America. In 13 years she played with the Laval Dynamites, Toronto Inferno, Western Mass Lady Pioneers, and Laval Comets.[5] She was named to the W-League All-Conference team in 2008. She was also named league all-star team and named as W-League Defender of the Year in 2012.[6] In 2019, she played with FC Sélect Rive-Sud in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec.[7]
She joined the Canadian senior national team when she was 18 years old.[8] In 1998, she played in the CONCACAF Women's Championship, which they won and secured a qualifying spot for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.[9] She was captain of the U20 Women’s national team in 1999 at the Pan American games, participating in all games, and helping the team to a 4th place finish. In 2010, Walsh was called back to the senior national team for a training camp in Cyprus and helped contribute to winning the 2010 Cyprus Cup after a 10 year absence with the team.[10]
She began her coaching career with the Laval Comets in 2013, serving as a player-coach,[11] making it all the way to the W-League finals in first season and being named coach of the year. From 2009 to 2016, she was assistant technical director at the Association régionale de soccer de la Rive-Sud and School Programs Educator at Collège-Français de Longueuil, De Mortagne School in Boucherville and Heritage Regional High School.[12] [13] She has also led the women's selection for the Quebec Games on several occasions and work at Soccer Quebec's High Performance Center.[14]
In 2020, she was announced as the head coach of the women's team of CS St-Hubert, making them the first club in the PLSQ with a female head coach.[15]
Her sister Amy Walsh was also a player for the Canadian women's national team.[16]