University of North Carolina Athletics
Cindy Parlow Cone Receives 2024 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award
December 20, 2023 | Women's Soccer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Former North Carolina women's soccer standout Cindy Parlow Cone has received the 2024 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in recognition of her collegiate and professional achievements, as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon.
The Silver Anniversary Award annually recognizes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers. Representatives of NCAA member schools and conferences, along with a panel of former student-athletes, select each year's recipients. Six former college athletes will formally receive the award during the NCAA Convention in January.
One of the best to ever wear Carolina blue, Parlow played for the Tar Heels from 1995-98. The dynamic forward helped lead UNC to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1996 and 1997 while winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship all four years.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Parlow was named the National Player of the Year three times in addition to being tabbed the National Freshman of the Year. The four-time All-American also won the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy twice. She capped off her illustrious UNC career with 68 goals, 53 assists and 189 points.
Arriving in Chapel Hill early after only three years of high school, Parlow also thrived in the classroom. She earned Academic All-America honors twice as an education major and was the 1998 recipient of UNC's esteemed Patterson Medal.
As an 18-year-old college student, Parlow was the youngest player on the U.S. Women's National Team which won gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She became the youngest player to ever win both a women's World Cup title and an Olympic gold medal, and she won U.S. Soccer's inaugural Young Female Player of the Year Award in 1998.
She was a star for the USWNT during a career that spanned from 1996-2004. Parlow earned 158 caps while scoring 75 goals, which still stands as eighth all-time on the USA's all-time goals list. Her seven career hat tricks remain second all-time behind Mia Hamm and Carli Lloyd. She also had 35 career assists.
At 5'11, she was a towering presence on the USA's forward line. She won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004 and was a member of the historic 1999 Women's World Cup team, scoring two goals during that tournament.
In total, she played in nine Olympic matches and 11 World Cup matches. She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2018.
Following her playing career, she went on to serve as an assistant coach with the Tar Heels for seven years from 2006-12 where UNC won four national championships. She was also the first head coach to win a National Women's Soccer League championship, guiding Portland Thorns FC to the title in 2013 during the league's inaugural season.
Parlow was first elected Vice President of U.S. Soccer in February 2019. On March 12, 2020, Parlow was elevated to President of the U.S. Soccer Federation and was re-elected in March 2022.
She is the first female President of U.S. Soccer, the second sitting National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and the first to hold the position who played for a senior U.S. National Team. She is also one of only seven female federation presidents across FIFA's 211 member associations.
Parlow has a rich and successful history of leading U.S. Soccer. Over the last few years, she has navigated U.S. Soccer through the COVID-19 pandemic; prioritized diversity, equity and inclusion efforts; and achieved equal pay with the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams. Simultaneously, she led U.S. Soccer in signing historic media and sponsorship deals. Now, she is leading the initiative to build U.S. Soccer's first world-class National Training Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
A title-winning coach at the grassroots, collegiate and professional levels, Parlow holds a USSF "A" coaching license. During the past 20 years, she has served on numerous committees, including the FIFA Steering Committee, the U.S. Soccer Medical Advisory Committee, Appeals Committee, and the Athletes' Council. She is on the board for the non-profit Goals for Girls, an organization that uses soccer to teach leadership skills in young women.
In the summer of 2007, she married John Cone in Chapel Hill. She has a street – Cindy Parlow Drive – named after her in her hometown of Memphis.
Stay up to date with UNC women's soccer by following the Tar Heels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The Silver Anniversary Award annually recognizes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers. Representatives of NCAA member schools and conferences, along with a panel of former student-athletes, select each year's recipients. Six former college athletes will formally receive the award during the NCAA Convention in January.
One of the best to ever wear Carolina blue, Parlow played for the Tar Heels from 1995-98. The dynamic forward helped lead UNC to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1996 and 1997 while winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship all four years.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Parlow was named the National Player of the Year three times in addition to being tabbed the National Freshman of the Year. The four-time All-American also won the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy twice. She capped off her illustrious UNC career with 68 goals, 53 assists and 189 points.
Arriving in Chapel Hill early after only three years of high school, Parlow also thrived in the classroom. She earned Academic All-America honors twice as an education major and was the 1998 recipient of UNC's esteemed Patterson Medal.
As an 18-year-old college student, Parlow was the youngest player on the U.S. Women's National Team which won gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She became the youngest player to ever win both a women's World Cup title and an Olympic gold medal, and she won U.S. Soccer's inaugural Young Female Player of the Year Award in 1998.
She was a star for the USWNT during a career that spanned from 1996-2004. Parlow earned 158 caps while scoring 75 goals, which still stands as eighth all-time on the USA's all-time goals list. Her seven career hat tricks remain second all-time behind Mia Hamm and Carli Lloyd. She also had 35 career assists.
At 5'11, she was a towering presence on the USA's forward line. She won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004 and was a member of the historic 1999 Women's World Cup team, scoring two goals during that tournament.
In total, she played in nine Olympic matches and 11 World Cup matches. She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2018.
Following her playing career, she went on to serve as an assistant coach with the Tar Heels for seven years from 2006-12 where UNC won four national championships. She was also the first head coach to win a National Women's Soccer League championship, guiding Portland Thorns FC to the title in 2013 during the league's inaugural season.
Parlow was first elected Vice President of U.S. Soccer in February 2019. On March 12, 2020, Parlow was elevated to President of the U.S. Soccer Federation and was re-elected in March 2022.
She is the first female President of U.S. Soccer, the second sitting National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and the first to hold the position who played for a senior U.S. National Team. She is also one of only seven female federation presidents across FIFA's 211 member associations.
Parlow has a rich and successful history of leading U.S. Soccer. Over the last few years, she has navigated U.S. Soccer through the COVID-19 pandemic; prioritized diversity, equity and inclusion efforts; and achieved equal pay with the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams. Simultaneously, she led U.S. Soccer in signing historic media and sponsorship deals. Now, she is leading the initiative to build U.S. Soccer's first world-class National Training Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
A title-winning coach at the grassroots, collegiate and professional levels, Parlow holds a USSF "A" coaching license. During the past 20 years, she has served on numerous committees, including the FIFA Steering Committee, the U.S. Soccer Medical Advisory Committee, Appeals Committee, and the Athletes' Council. She is on the board for the non-profit Goals for Girls, an organization that uses soccer to teach leadership skills in young women.
In the summer of 2007, she married John Cone in Chapel Hill. She has a street – Cindy Parlow Drive – named after her in her hometown of Memphis.
Stay up to date with UNC women's soccer by following the Tar Heels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Carolina Insider: Rapid Reactions – Men’s Basketball vs. Radford – November 11, 2025
Wednesday, November 12
Hubert Davis Post-Radford Press Conference
Wednesday, November 12
UNC Men's Basketball: Tar Heels Handle Radford, 89-74
Wednesday, November 12
FB: Head Coach Bill Belichick Pre-Wake Forest Press Conference
Tuesday, November 11