Iya Andrushchak

Iya Andrushchak
Personal information
Full name Iya Rafaelivna Andrushchak
Birth name Iya Rafailovna Andrushchak (Russian: Ия Рафаиловна Андрущак)
Date of birth (1987-03-13) 13 March 1987
Place of birth Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Ukraine national team
Youth career
DYuSSh-1 Khmelnytskyi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 Lehenda Chernihiv 35 (15)
2007–2011 Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv 51 (14)
2012–2013 FK Kubanochka 13 (1)
2013–2016 Zvezda 2005 Perm 61 (3)
2017–2018 Zhytlobud-1 24 (0)
2019–2023 Zhytlobud-2/Vorskla 41 (7)
International career
2003–???? Ukraine U-19 10 (0)
2010–2021 Ukraine 58 (2)
Managerial career
2023–2024 Vorskla Poltava (youth team)
2024–2025 Vorskla-2 Poltava
2025–2026 Vorskla Poltava (women team)
2026– Ukraine (women team)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Iya Rafaelivna Andrushchak (Ukrainian: Ія Рафаелівна Андрущак, born 13 March 1987) is a Ukrainian former international footballer who played as a midfielder. Since 2026, she has been the head coach of the Ukraine women's national team.

Brief biography

Andrushchak was born in Leningrad when her mother was a student. After graduation, the family moved back to Khmelnytskyi. In 2000, when she was 14, Andrushchak joined a football section of the local sports school, where she began her football career.[1] Her first coach at the Khmelnytskyi DYuSSh (sports school) was Olena Mykhailo.[2] Before joining the football section, Andrushchak was an athlete of track and field at the Khmelnytskyi DYuSSh.[2] As a teenager, she dreamed of becoming the President of Ukraine.[1] One of her early football moments that inspired her was the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, when Dynamo Kyiv reached the semifinals.[1]

Already at 15, Andrushchak signed her contract with one of the leaders of the Ukrainian women's football, Lehenda Chernihiv.[1] At Lehenda, her first salary was 200 hryvnia.[1] At the professional level, Andrushchak made her debut at age of 16 during the 2003 Ukrainian Cup competition when Lehenda on the road beat Oleksandriya Kyiv 12–0.[3] During the match, she scored 2 goals.

She made her debut at the club's continental competition during the 2006–07 UEFA Women's Cup, when on 8 August 2006 Lehenda was hosting Cypriot AEK and beating them 4–0.[2]

From 2012 to 2016, Andrushchak played in the Russian Federation. On 13 February 2012, along with Odesa-native Darya Vorontsova, she was introduced as a player of FC Kubanochka from Krasnodar.[2] In 2017, she returned to Zhytlobud-1, where she had played from 2007 to 2011.

Since 2003, Andrushchak has represented Ukraine internationally, at first playing for the under-19 team. She made her debut during the 2003 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, the second round of qualification, when on 15 April 2003 at a neutral field, Ukraine beat Slovakia 1–0.[2] Both teams failed to qualify for the finals, nonetheless. From 2010 to 2021, Andrushchak played for the senior team. She recorded 58 appearances for the Ukraine national team and scored 2 goals.

On 8 November 2023, Andrushchak was appointed a senior coach of the Vorskla under-19 team.[4] She became the first female coach to manage a men's team in professional competitions when next season, Vorskla changed its under-19 team into Vorskla-2, competing in the PFL League 2 (tier 3).[5]

Honours

Lehenda Chernihiv
  • Ukrainian Women League
    • Winner (1): 2005
    • Runner-up (2): 2004, 2006
  • Ukrainian Women Cup
    • Winner (2): 2004, 2005
    • Finalist (2): 2003, 2006
Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv
  • Ukrainian Women League
    • Winner (2): 2008, 2018
    • Runner-up (4): 2007, 2009, 2010, 2017
  • Ukrainian Women Cup
    • Winner (5): 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2018
    • Finalist (1): 2009
Zvezda Perm

Winner

Runner-up

Zhytlobud-2 / Vorskla
  • Ukrainian Women League
    • Winner (2): 2020, 2023
    • Runner-up (1): 2019
  • Ukrainian Women Cup
    • Winner (3): 2020, 2021, 2022

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "«Жінки симулюють менше»" [Women simulate less]. zaxid.net (in Ukrainian). 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e "ПРЕДСТАВЛЯЕМ НОВИЧКОВ КОМАНДЫ" [Indruducing the team's newcomers]. fckubanochka.com (in Russian). 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  3. ^ "Протокол матчу № 3 Александрія Київ - Легенда-Чексіл Чернігів" [The game report No.3 of the match Oleksandriya Kyiv - Lehenda Cheksil Chernihiv]. footpass.ffu.ua (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  4. ^ Ія Андрущак очолила «Ворсклу» U-19. vorskla.com.ua. 8 November 2023
  5. ^ "Команду Другої ліги очолить жінка: віцепрезидент Ворскли повідомив подробиці" [The team of the Second League will be managed by female: the vice-president of Vorksla shared the details]. ukrfootball.ua (in Ukrainian). 13 June 2024. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.