Colorado native and U.S. women’s national team captain Lindsey Heaps signed with Denver Summit FC, the NWSL expansion team announced Monday.

The 31-year-old midfielder will join the club in June following the completion of her season in France at OL Lyonnes. She is signed with the Summit through the 2029 NWSL campaign.

Heaps returns to the NWSL with a decorated record for club and country. The 2018 NWSL MVP starred with the Portland Thorns from 2016-21, winning a championship (2017) and two NWSL Shields (2016, 2021). With the U.S., she won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Heaps, who has been with OL Lyonnes since 2022, told ESPN she started thinking about a return to the NWSL when rumors of an expansion team in Colorado first surfaced years ago.

“I didn’t want to just say, ‘I want to do it because it’s Denver,'” Heaps told ESPN. “I want it to be the right place for me and my career. So I tried to take as much of the Denver aspect out of it as possible, but it’s very difficult.”

Heaps grew up in Golden, Colo. At 18, she signed with Paris Saint-Germain in 2012, becoming the first U.S. women’s player to turn pro out of high school.

Summit general manager Curt Johnson said signing players with Colorado roots was a high priority for the team.

“We just felt like Lindsey was the ideal piece as we work to build a strong team, as well as with the DNA of Denver and Colorado,” Johnson told ESPN, adding Denver has around 20 players committed to the roster.

“This is one of those moments that’s just special. It sends a message to our fans, our players on our roster, to prospective players, global soccer, that this is going to be a formidable team, an attractive place to come, and that we are going to recruit the best of the best.”

–Field Level Media