SAN JOSE, Calif. – After a second season in which they recorded the highest attendances in a knockout tournament and finished 13th among the 14 teams in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Bay FC is eager to tackle the next chapter. The team has a new female management mix in head coach Emma Coates and assistant Gemma Davies, a $1.1 million signing of 20-year-old U.S. women’s national team midfielder Claire Hutton, and a young squad hungry for playing time and a chance to prove themselves on the global stage.
Only so much can be gleaned from the talking points at the press conference, but on paper, it might be enough to give the glass a glass-half-full appearance even amid the NWSL’s growing chaos.
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“I think we really came together as a team last year, no matter what was going on on the field,” said midfielder Hannah Bebar, who joined Sounders FC last season. “Personally, I’m just trying to keep growing and learning from our experiences and trying to keep adapting to this pace and level.”
After the season the Bay went through last year, building a stronger bond is understandable and one of the best outcomes. The then-head coach and the club’s first head coach, Albertin Montoya, announced his resignation in September but remained with the team for the remainder of the season. Three months later, Bayside FC replaced Montoya with Coates, who last coached the England Under-23 national team.
Bay FC’s first game of the season – at home against expansion side Denver Summit on March 14 – will mark Coates’ official start in the NWSL and her return to managing a professional club, something she has not done since coaching English first-division women’s soccer side Doncaster Rovers a decade ago.
The NWSL has proven to be a challenging league for players and coaches from Europe, and for those with their eyes on the next two World Cups in 2027 and 2031, as well as the 2028 Olympics, any hesitation in working with a first-time NWSL coach this season is understandable. But that’s not the case for Sounders FC players, with new players citing Coates and Davis as reasons for them to join the team and returning players as reasons to keep hope alive.
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“What we’re most excited about is the team that we have now and the team that we have now and the expectations and the clarity that Emma brings to the team and coming in with such a clear idea,” midfielder Taylor Huff said. The Florida State alum joined the team last season and made an immediate impact in the midfield, appearing in 26 of Bey’s games as a rookie.
“I think for that reason, it’s easy to play under her and it puts us on the same page,” she added of Coates. “So we’re really excited about this year, the coaching staff has high expectations for us and we feel that and we’re delivering on that.”
Players were attracted to Coates’ tactics, which seemed rooted in a philosophy of placing creative agency within a disciplined structure – and, crucially for Bey, an emphasis on playing in midfield rather than relying on long balls for forwards to sprint forward.
For 19-year-old forward Onyeka Gameiro, who signed with Bayern last season after starting his career with Barcelona B, getting the results he needed wasn’t enough. She wanted to do it right and according to Coates’ plan.
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“Obviously, we want to win, but how we do it matters,” she said. “How we play, how we pass the ball, (play) each player’s role, how we work together. Those are the things we talk about in training and, again, winning 3-0 is good, winning 1-0 is good, but how you do it is what matters most to us.”
On Friday, U.S. Soccer released its U-20 national team training camp roster, which included Gameiro and forward Alex Pfeiffer, who signed with Bey from Current last month. This is the first time Gameiro has been selected for the national team since 2023. Coates’ commitment to supporting his players for club and country remains clear.
“First of all, I really care about international football,” Coates said. “I want to help our players achieve on the world stage with us in the Bay Area and certainly for their country. Coming from international football, I know how important that relationship is for the players and you have to put the players in the middle.”
Coates stressed that when it comes to communicating with U.S. head coach Emma Hayes and U.S. Soccer, she is “definitely in touch with them, we have conversations, just like I had with England (national team head coach) Sarina (Wegman), so we are trying to build a really good relationship with all the players, all the coaches, the associations and the countries they play for. Our job is to get as many players on the road to Brazil and get them competing on stages around the world.”
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When Coates arrived in San Jose for a preseason game, the first thing she noticed was the players’ palpable hunger.
“I’ve always known how competitive Americans are,” she said. “I really like that because it means I can focus on the details, the style of play, the clarity that we’re trying to create, and I don’t have to drive other things. It’s a really refreshing place to be.”
She may sometimes veer on the wrong side of San Jose roads (“If we’re driving, stay away,” she warns) and use the wrong dialect to refer to another football team — she commented during the Super Bowl, “Their press is really good,” which turned out to be not actually how to describe the Seahawks defense) — but when it comes to settling in at Sounders Football Club, Coates has already felt at home with her husband and 5-year-old child.
She is one of four permanent female head coaches heading into the 2026 season, providing another novelty for some players and marking a positive step.
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“This is the first time in my career that I’m being coached by a female coach,” Bebar said. “Growing up and having role models like that, especially for young girls, is so important to see the changes in the growth of our sport.”
“I’ve had male coaches and I’ve had female coaches and they bring different things and I think there’s an emotional intelligence element to women, especially in the league and playing football,” Penelope Hocking said, citing her Penn State coach Erica Dambach.
Midfielder Caroline Conte agreed. “Yes, this is my first female head coach and I’m loving every second of it so far.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
U.S. Women’s National Team, Bay FC, NWSL, Women’s Soccer
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