Miriam Hickey was appointed as the fifth Executive Director of High Country Association in April 2021 by the High Country Soccer Board of Directors. Her contract was recently extended through the end of May, 2027.
She began playing soccer with the boys in her neighborhood at a very young age in her homeland The Netherlands. In 1989-1990 Miriam had to make a choice to either sign a contract to play professional soccer in Italy or play collegiate soccer in the US. She choose to play in the US and stayed until 1997. She was a two-time All American as a NAIA player and coached at the College of the Southwest in NM and started the NCAA Division I women’s soccer program at LSU where she coached two seasons.
From 1997-2005 Miriam Hickey, her husband Jerome and their two children lived in the Netherlands, where Miriam was employed by the KNVB, the Royal Dutch Football Association in the Football Technical Department as the Coordinator for the Development of Youth Football. During her 8 year tenure at the KNVB Miriam was also the Team Manager for the Dutch Women’s National Team, Assistant Coach for the U15 and U17 Girls National Teams and the National Manager for the Development of Girls and Women’s Football.
In 2005 Miriam, her husband and three children moved back to the US and lived in Michigan for 12 years, where she worked as a coach and Director of Coaching for Vardar East, AC Milan Detroit and Troy Soccer Club. From 1999-2015 Miriam was an Olympic Development Program age group coach for the USYSA Region II. She holds the UEFA B-License, U.S. Soccer A-License and DOC License.
From 2012- 2019 Miriam worked for FIFA as a Women’s Football Instructor and lead coaching courses for several CONCACAF Member Associations. She was also appointed as a FIFA Technical Study Group Member for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada and the 2016 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan.
In January 2017 U.S. Soccer recruited her and offered her the job as the Girls' Development Academy Director in Chicago, where she stayed until April of 2020 when Covid-19 ended the DA program. Miriam was the lead Instructor during the 2018 and 2019 Girls' Academy Director Course, with visits to England (The FA, Manchester City and Birmingham FC) and Spain (Spanish Federation and Athletico Madrid)
Since her hiring in April 2021, High Country Soccer Association has continuously made improvements to all programs (adult, youth, recreational and competitive), and has raised registration numbers across all programs. New programs such as the After-School-Soccer and Girls-Only-Soccer were started under her leadership in 2023.
Miriam has collaborated with community organizations to be able to offer scholarships and free programming in the community. HCSA has received grants from the Summit Foundation, Breck Grand Vacations, Vail Gives and the Towns in Summit County and Miriam has expanded the sponsorship program for the recreational teams. She was instrumental in creating the Centura St Anthony Summit Hospital partnership as the organization’s main sponsor from 2021-2024. Recently a 4-year partnership until 2028 was agreed upon with the CommonSpirit St Anthony Summit Hospital.
Miriam and her staff are continuing to enhance the development of the players and coaches, while remaining true to its mission and a mountain organization at heart. She is passionate about soccer and Summit County and is excited to continue to advance all that High Country Soccer has to offer for the community.
Miriam, Jerome, their youngest son Ben and rescued German Shepherd Mix Alpha reside in Silverthorne and they enjoy all the exciting outdoor activities that Summit County has to offer.
