October 24, 2025/ Midnight
Erie, PA.– The US Women’s National Team (USWNT) is becoming more popular. Players like Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle, and Naomi Girma are blazing a trial for young girls to follow.
Throughout my 13 years of playing soccer, I have only had one female coach. Soccer coaching has always been a male dominated field. This was difficult because the players you admire most are not the same gender as the ones who teach you how to play. At the time I grew up admiring so many USWNT players. I dreamed of being just like them. With a female coach that dream would have been fostered because of an unspoken interconnectedness between female player and female coach.
Female coaches know from experience the troubles of being an athlete. At the same time, they also understand the struggles of being a woman. Many of my teammates have shared this sentiment –that female coaches have a positive impact on player development.
The bond between a head coach and/or the coaching staff and their players is extremely important. From primary school through college, interactions with coaches can shape you as a person during a this very transformative time. Coaches and professional players become role models for young girls throughout their lives in athletics.
In recent years, there has been such a newfound support for women’s soccer. USWNT players are now getting recognition for their impressive achievement over the past few decades. The coaching staff of this four-time World Cup winning team is led by Emma Hayes.
USWNT is always compared to the successes of USMNT, or the men’s national team. Hayes is committed to changing the game of soccer to “a female blueprint to win and set the bar for the global game.”
Hayes was an athlete herself. She previously managed many female soccer clubs around the world, most notably being the manager of Chelsea Women’s football team in London, United Kingdom. Hayes aims to challenge existing biases and create a unique identity for women’s soccer around the world.
She empowers her athletes to play at their absolute best for every competition, and these athletes inspire young girls around the world. Hayes also inspires younger female athletes to understand the game through a “female lens.” This is one example of many examples showing how impactful a strong female coaching presence can be on the development of women soccer players.
The strong female presence in the initial stages of my athletic career has not only had a positive influence on my game but also led me to have better overall experience as a player and stronger connection with the coach.
If I had a strong female presence in the initial stages of my athletic career, I think my game would be positively impacted by the experience and connection a female coach brings.
