Lindsey Heaps comes home: USWNT captain signs with Denver Summit FC

Lindsey Heaps is coming home.

Heaps will join up with her hometown team in June at the conclusion of the season with her current team OL Lyonnes.

The move looks like a no-brainer for all parties. Heaps returns home to play in front of friends and family, while the Summit have their franchise cornerstone and a local star to create buzz in the Denver market.

‘There’s just so much joy and happiness knowing that there’s a professional women’s soccer team in Denver, and now that I get to be a part of it, it’s just such a special feeling,’ Heaps told USA Today Sports.

Heaps instantly becomes one of the NWSL’s marquee names. The 31-year-old midfielder has already won nearly everything there is to win for club and country. Her résumé includes league titles in the NWSL and France, a Champions League title, an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup. She’s made 170 appearances for the USWNT, serving as captain since 2023.

Denver’s move to land the Golden, Colorado, native is significant not just for Heaps and the Summit, but for the NWSL as a whole.

The NWSL has seen several of Heaps’ USWNT teammates leave for European clubs over the past two years. The exodus led to the recent introduction of the High Impact Player rule, a mechanism designed to pay star players outside of the league’s salary cap.

Though it’s been a difficult stretch for the league, Heaps urged fans to take a more holistic approach to the NWSL’s struggles retaining top talent.

‘I think people have to look at it from a different perspective,’ she said. ‘Obviously, any NWSL team or supporter is going to be upset if one of their favorite players is going overseas. But at the same time you have to realize players want different experiences. We want different opportunities. We want to challenge ourselves in different ways.’

Still, Heaps knows that her return could be a big moment for the league.

‘I think it does mean a lot to see another national team player coming back. I think that’s hopefully exciting for the league,’ she added.

Heaps is something of a pioneer in terms of moving abroad, starting her pro career with Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 when jumping overseas was far less common. After spending the majority of her pro career in France, Heaps was ready to head home – with one catch.

Because the European and NWSL seasons don’t align, Heaps was left with an unenviable choice: leave her current team at midseason or join her future team at midseason.

It was an easy choice for Heaps.

‘I made it very clear that I would be staying in Lyon to fulfill my contract here and to play out this season,’ she said. ‘That was really important to me.’

Heaps said that the Summit pushed for her to move earlier, but the club – led by former Manchester City head coach Nick Cushing – understood her perspective.

‘Nick understood because he has been in Europe. He has been coaching Champions League teams,’ Heaps said. ‘This is very important to me and he knew I would want to fulfill my contract. I want to win every title possible this year with Lyon.’

For Heaps, returning to Denver will have one more major benefit.

Heaps married San Diego FC sporting director Tyler Heaps in December 2024. Marking the couple’s one-year anniversary in a post on Instagram last month, Tyler noted that they had spent just 60 days together in their first year of marriage.

Moving back to the United States should ensure the couple surpasses that number in year two.

‘Tyler and I have been amazing in this relationship supporting each other from afar,’ Heaps said. ‘It has been very difficult. I don’t think a lot of people know the sacrifices and what it takes to do that.

‘This makes it a hell of a lot easier and a shorter flight, and the time zones are a little bit better,’ she added. ‘So I am very thankful for that.’