The U.S. Women’s National Team may be in its final camp of the year, but the clear motto coming out of Fort Lauderdale is simple: a new beginning. It could be a new mantra as the team waits for the official start of its Emma Hayes era, or an attempt to reset things after an earlier-than-expected exit from the World Cup, but either way, the difference between the Friendlies earlier this fall and December camp feels clear.
Part of that could be due to Hayes’ presence. The team’s next head coach came from England to meet with players and staff for a few days during this window. She almost certainly won’t be able to return until the end of her time at Chelsea FC.
“I think it was super important that she came in and didn’t just introduce herself and say, ‘I’m leaving!’ But imagine and really say, ‘Look, I agree with you, obviously I have this commitment that I’m committed to,'” forward Lynn Williams said Friday before practice at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. “Of course we want her now, but it’s really important to me to know that when she commits to something, she’s 100% committed.”
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Williams said the team has “full confidence” in the plan and process for how Hayes will contribute remotely, with interim coach Twila Kilgore leading the team’s day-to-day operations. She added that Hayes was able to come in to clearly communicate a plan for the next few months, while also saying that she “wanted to get to know them as people.”
Hayes is known for his player-centered leadership style, and it was clear Friday that U.S. players appreciated even this brief face time.
“Emma was one of the main reasons I went to Chelsea, because of her and her skills as a coach and because she produced great players,” Mia Fishel told reporters in the mixed zone. “I’m really excited for this team to be able to meet and get to know her. She is a great person, a great trainer. She is very funny. She cracks jokes in meetings at this camp, so it’s cool that she’s already familiarizing herself with the team and showing a little bit of herself, but I mean, she’s also very serious. She has a good balance between seriousness and lightheartedness.”
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Competition within the USWNT training environment is nothing new, but with a new head coach comes new pressures; an added drive for the players to prove themselves to both Kilgore and Hayes ahead of the Olympics and Hayes’ full takeover in May.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Williams said. “I think that’s what this team needs, to be challenged in the right way.”
Fishel confirmed that she noticed a difference in this camp compared to those earlier this fall. “I feel that the team is serious and the players are no longer as relaxed as they were after the World Cup,” she said. “This new change, the Emma Hayes way – just her name – runs through the entire camp and through the way we have played so far.”
Williams said there is an individual and collective responsibility to ensure this development is successful.
“I think it’s a new beginning,” she said. “This team has always set the bar high on and off the field and right now it feels like a moment where we have two options. Either we stay the same and keep getting the same results, or we challenge ourselves and push again.”
“I know it’s the end of an era, but it feels like it’s the start of something new,” midfielder Rose Lavelle said Friday, before pausing for a moment and recognizing her own reference to “High School Musical.” .
To get back on track, Lavelle emphasized her excitement for what lies ahead, but stressed that everyone around needs to be on the same page, not just the players. This “something new” requires trust, not just from 18, 23 or 26 players, but from everyone pulling together and doing their job at the highest level.
Emma Hayes, although currently in a limited role, is instrumental in setting that tone.
“She will bring so much to us on the field but also culturally and get us all on the same page in terms of the message of what we want to do,” Lavelle said. “We are reinventing ourselves, having a new identity and going beyond what I think we even thought possible.”
(Photo: Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)