Player Bio: Amy Allmann - University of Washington Official Athletic Site
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Former United States National Team goalkeeper Amy Allmann is in her fourth year on the Washington coaching staff. Allmann was named assistant coach on March 26, 1996 after serving as the head coach at the University of New Mexico the previous three seasons.
A native of Federal Way, Wash., Allmann was reunited with Husky head coach Lesle Gallimore who she served under as an assistant at San Diego State in 1991 and 1992.
Allmann helped the Huskies reach the 1996 NCAA Tournament during her first season, tutoring Tina Thompson who completed her career as Washington's leader in nearly every goalkeeping statistic. She also coached walk-on freshman Gretchen Mensinger who did not allow a goal in 149 minutes during 1996. In 1997, Allmann was charged with mentoring freshman goalkeeper Leslie Weeks who started 17 games. Weeks registered four shutouts and a fine 1.74 goals against average.
Last season may have been Allmann's most challenging as a goalkeepers' coach. She mentored Weeks for the first 11 games, helping the sophomore post three shutouts and a fine 1.24 goals against average.
Weeks suffered a season-ending injury and Allmann gave field player Kristin Shaw a quick lesson in goalkeeping. The Huskies kept their postseason hopes alive with the temporary goalie, winning 3-2 over USC.
Former UW goalie Gretchen Mensinger returned to the team for the final eight games and, with Allmann's tutoring, fashioned a 1.04 goals against average with two shutouts.
That scenario won't repeat itself in 1999 as Allmann helped convince the premier prep goalkeeper in the nation to join the Huskies. Hope Solo, who was in goal for the United States' gold-medaling winning performance at the 1999 Pan-American Games, will vie for playing time with Weeks who is back from her injury.
Those two give Washington arguably the nation's finest pair of goalkeepers. Who better to coach such quality talent than Allmann, a former world-class competitor.
Prior to her San Diego State stint, Allmann was an assistant coach at Santa Clara from 1989-91. She was also an assistant at her alma mater, Central Florida, after graduating in 1987 with a B.A. in organizational communications and a minor in health.
Her coaching career began as an assistant coach in 1987 at Lyman High School in Orlando, Fla. Allmann was one of the first nine women to obtain a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) level A coaching license. She is active in the Olympic Development program and coached at the 1995 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival.
Allmann spent three years at New Mexico where she started the program in 1993. The Lobos posted a 27-24-1 record under Allmann, including a 10-7-3 mark in 1995 en route to a second place finish in the Western Athletic Conference.
"I don't look at Amy as an assistant. I feel that we co-coach this team," Gallimore remarks. "She has a long history in the state of Washington and is highly respected nationally throughout the soccer community."
Her coaching ability has not gone unnoticed on the national level. In 1998, Allmann became a national staff coach for both the National Soccer Coaches Association and the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Allmann's lengthy list of playing credentials is impressive. She was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1987 to 1991, playing on the team that won the first women's World Cup in 1991.
A graduate of Decatur (Wash.) High School and member of the F.C. Royals club program, Allmann played at the University of Central Florida where she was named the adidas Goalkeeper of the Year in 1987. Central Florida earned NCAA Tournament invitations three times during Allmann's collegiate career.
Allmann was inducted into the Central Florida Hall of Fame in 1999, the school's second women's soccer honoree. The first was her teammate at UCF and current U.S. National Team standout Michelle Akers.
During her playing career, Allmann earned five gold medals and one silver as a participant at the Olympic Sports Festival. She continues to play, helping lead her over-30 club team to the 1998 and 1999 USASA national championships.
Allmann also has a thriving broadcasting career, including commentating stints with ESPN and Fox Network coverage of soccer. She provided analysis for ESPN2 during the 1995 women's soccer World Cup in Sweden, the 1997 U.S. Cup and the 1997 USYSA Nationals. In the summer of 1999, she was an ESPN color commentator during the 1999 women's World Cup.
She will be the women's soccer color analyst for NBC at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Austalia.
Allmann is engaged to be married in June of 2000 to Jack Griffin, the women's tennis coach at the University of Oregon.
