Years ago, Tobin Heath travelled to Mexico with a group, where the USWNT star took part in a surf retreat. While enjoying the picturesque views and sun on the beach, one of the surf instructors who also happened to be their friend suggested everyone partake in a ceremony to honor the Gemini full moon. Heath, having her star sign as Gemini, felt more compelled than others to connect with her own moon. But it wasn’t the kind of ceremony she expected it to be!

In this ‘strange’, ‘funny’, and ‘amazing’ experience, people had to dig their own grave into the sand, oh wait, wet sand, which of course, is quite ironic because when a person dies, they don’t dig their own grave. Questioning whether it was a made-up thing or not, Heath eventually gave it a try, which was more physically laborious than doing a sprint on a training ground. Now that the grave is dug, one has to lie in it, with others putting the rest of the sand all over you until you’re completely covered.

Imagine, heavy, wet sand all around you with little room to breathe; that’s exactly how Heath felt, but with a side of awesomeness. “You just feel like the weight of the world is on top of you,” narrated the former Manchester United star during the retirement announcement segment of the RE—INC podcast that she co-hosts with Christen Press. “The idea was to basically deposit something back into the earth, and then you can come out and be reborn in some way.”

Although Heath had no idea what was going on, the weight of the earth on top of her made the former Seattle Reign star feel like she was surrounded by the entire universe. “I had this very spiritual moment where I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is it.’ I’m going to deposit my gift of playing soccer back into the earth,” added the 36-year-old, stating how depositing herself would help her create space for new things

And by new things, she meant a restart of her soccer career, to be precise. Well, for someone who had been out of action, desperately hoping to make a comeback, that was all she needed. And this entire thought always made Heath burst into tears. “For two years, I’d really held on to it, and I tried f—ing everything to get back,” she added.

“I spent tens of thousands of dollars and [had] two surgeries, one crazy surgery. And the whole time, I believed I was going to get back,” continued the former Arsenal star, before admitting how she couldn’t believe that was all for her soccer journey. “The writing was definitely on the wall, and I just couldn’t accept that was my ending.”

One career-ending knee injury — that’s all it took for Heath to see her dreams get shattered. Yet, that doesn’t take away from the greatness she achieved. Having earned her first cap for the USWNT in January 2008, Heath retires as a serial winner with two FIFA Women’s World Cups (2015, 2019) and three Olympic medals — two golds (2008, 2012) and a bronze (2021).

Across 181 appearances for the U.S., she scored 36 goals and provided 42 assists. She’s also one of just 25 players in USWNT history to surpass 50 combined goals and assists, ranking among the top 20 all-time in both caps and goals. Perhaps her standout moment came in the 2015 World Cup final, where she found the net to help dismantle Japan 5-2.

Named the 2016 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, Heath last played for the national team in October 2021, coming off the bench to deliver an assist in a friendly against South Korea. Though she returned briefly to club soccer the following year, her final NWSL match came with Seattle Reign in August 2022, helping secure a 4-1 win over Gotham FC.

Heath closed her career with two NWSL championships with Portland Thorns and two Shields — one each with the Thorns and Seattle Reign — ultimately stepping away once it became clear where her future lay.

Tobin Heath did accept her fate after all!

After emerging from her sandy grave, Tobin Heath felt completely transformed — “reborn,” as she put it, like Lazarus. As the sun set, she ran straight into the ocean, letting the water wash over what had just become a profoundly spiritual experience. It may sound weird, but getting buried under the heavy, wet sand somehow gave Heath the clarity she’d struggled to find for years.

“It wasn’t even this idea — at some point I think I had accepted I was never going to return to being a professional athlete — but I never thought the idea would ever happen that I literally couldn’t play football for the rest of my life,” she added, insisting that her giving the gift of playing soccer back to the earth was a symbolic release that finally created space for something new.

Having spent time, effort, and money just to get back on the field, little did she know that ritual on a quiet beach in Mexico became her true moment of acceptance, marking the end of her soccer journey. “That was my personal understanding of when I gave up playing soccer. I’m really grateful for that trip and for that moment,” concluded Heath.

“In the end, her farewell to soccer wasn’t played out on a global stage but beneath the sand and stars — a quiet, poetic goodbye to a game she gave her entire soul to.