CARSON -- As 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of our first intercollegiate athletic team at Cal State Dominguez Hills, we will be highlighting CSUDH student-athlete alumni who made significant contributions to their teams during their time in Cardinal and Gold.
These spotlights will showcase the impact that a Cal State Dominguez Hills student-athlete had while competing, as well as the impact he or she currently is making as a professional.
(Click here for "Where Are They Now" archives)
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This spotlight shines on Heather Rolland, a women's soccer All-American at CSUDH who led the Toros to the 1989 and 1997 NCAA National semifinals.
Rolland competed for the Toros in 1989 before leaving school to care for her brother, and then returned in 1996 and 1997. She twice earned 1st-team All-CCAA honors, a 1st-team All-Region accolade and 2nd-team All-America honors in her final season, one that saw CSUDH fall in a triple-overtime thriller in Carson in the NCAA semifinal.
An offensive dynamo, Rolland holds the CSUDH single-season records for goals (24) and points (55), and sits 3rd in both career goals (54) and points (132) in just three years.
What have you been up to since setting the bar athletically at CSUDH with your All-America award, and leading the Toros to the NCAA semis in both 1989 and 1997?
I'm currently a Sergeant of Detectives at LAPD and helping raise my two sons (Kai 12 and Kade 9) who both play club soccer and baseball.
How did winning your awards and being recognized as one of the top women's soccer players in the nation help you in your current career?
It gave me the confidence to try a different career path than what my degree was in.
What is your fondest memory as a S/A at CSUDH?
My senior year, going as far as we did with the team we had. We weren't the most talented team but we had heart and the confidence to keep beating teams. Eventually losing to a team that had won the National Championship 4 years in a row in triple overtime was by far the greatest game I have ever played in.
If you had a chance to change one thing in your athletic career, what would it be?
I was able to play in two Final Fours and came up short in both of them. I would give back every single one of my goals to have won just one National Championship.
Aside from athletics, what about CSUDH do you cherish the most?
The friends I met on and off the field. Classes were not large back then and you really got to know the people in class along with your professors. Also, Dr. J was a mentor to me and I will never forget him and how he shaped me into who I was at DH.
Can you offer any words of wisdom for our current student-athletes?
Soak it all in because before you know it, it will be your senior game.
What does "Once a Toro, Always a Toro" mean to you?
It doesn't matter if you played in 1989 or 2019, you are always a Toro and need to have that pride of putting on the jersey and playing for your school. I think the current set of players have lost that sense of history that the women's program has had. They need to understand that you are representing ALL the players who played before you.
When was the last time you were on campus, and when do you plan on visiting us?
A couple of years ago, a bunch of us from the 1997 team went to the game in the Stadium to hang out and watch the team play. And soon, I promise!
Anything else you'd like to add?
All the awards and records are nice, but picking up my degree was a different sense of accomplishment that I had and I will never forget that.
