Kat Tarr is ready to turn a page. But she is not ready to close the book on playing professional soccer.
Recently hired by Washington Timbers FC to coordinate its junior academy, Tarr said she hopes to play for the Portland Thorns on a fill-in basis during the 2015 National Women’s Soccer League season.
Tarr, 27, played in six matches for the Thorns last season before undergoing knee surgery.
Coaching opportunities — including at Clark College — mean she cannot commit to playing full time in the NWSL, she said.
“If I could play forever I would,” she said. “But I can coach forever and I will.”
She said she has talked with Thorns coach Paul Riley about playing during the FIFA Women’s World Cup, when the Thorns will be without some players.
Tarr discovered a passion for teaching the youngest players while coaching a team of 8-year-old boys in Germany, where she played professional soccer for three-plus years.
She sees coaching in Vancouver as a way to give back to the community where her soccer journey started — and to honor her brother Connor, who died last month in a traffic accident while traveling home from California.
When she sees siblings teasing each other on the soccer field, Tarr said it brings back fond memories of Connor, who was one year younger than Kat.
“I feel him here with me every day,” she said. “It gives me comfort.”
