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Who Is U.S. Women’s Soccer Coach Emma Hayes?
“I was lucky to be born in England — but made in America," Emma Hayes said about coaching soccer.
A great coach can be a soccer team's not-so-secret weapon.
Behind a U.S. women’s soccer team determined to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics is an accomplished and seasoned coach, 47-year-old Emma Hayes, whose goal is to guide them with the best she's got. And that's a lot.
The Paris Olympics will represent Hayes' first major tournament in charge of the U.S. Women's National Team. She was hired in November 2023 in a deal that, according to U.S. Soccer, makes her the highest paid women's soccer coach in the world. If her track record of success is an indication of Team USA's prospects for reasserting its global dominance in the women's game, then things are looking bright. Here's what you need to know about the new U.S. coach.
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Where is Emma Hayes from?
Born in London in 1986, Hayes grew up in the English borough of Camden, where she attended Parliament Hill School.
It’s an area known for its eclectic vibe as well as for its diverse and vibrant cultural scene. Hayes shared a fond recollection of Camden’s “brilliant music scene” in an interview with The Standard.
Beyond the sound of bands and beats, Hayes was drawn to the thrills and competitive spirit of sports.
Did Emma Hayes play soccer?
Hayes played for Arsenal’s academy as a midfielder from 1988 to 1996. She led the team to five national titles, according to frontrowsoccer.com.
Her soccer career was cut short by an ankle injury during a ski trip when she was 17.
Hayes, who studied European history, Spanish, and sociology at Liverpool Hope University, made lemonade out of lemons. She pivoted from playing to coaching.
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Where has Emma Hayes coached?
Beyond cracking the books in college at Liverpool, Hayes coached the women’s soccer team at the school from 1997 to 1999.
By 2001, she landed her first job as head coach. She became the manager of the Long Island Lady Riders in the USL W-League, a women's association soccer league in the U.S.
From there Hayes coached at Iona College in New York before returning to London, where soccer is called football. She worked as an assistant coach for the Arsenal Football Club.
In 2008, Hayes came back to the U.S., where she coached the Chicago Red Stars, now part of the National Women’s Soccer League. Hayes has taken stock of back-and-forth career: “I was lucky to be born in England — but made in America," she told NBC News.
Known for her tactical acumen and leadership, Hayes is acclaimed for her illustrious 12-year tenure as coach for the Chelsea Football Club. During her run she he led Chelsea to five consecutive English Women's Super League titles, NBC News reported.
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Hayes’s first game as head coach for the U.S. women’s national team on June 1 was a match-up against South Korea. The U.S. won 4-0. The U.S. women's first match at the Olympics will be July 28 at 3 p.m. ET against Germany.
Emma Hayes’ family life
Life, like soccer, is about wins and losses and hard lessons. In 2018, Hayes was pregnant with twin boys. One child, Albie, died in utero at 28 weeks. He was delivered a half an hour before his brother, Harry, The Guardian reported in 2022.
“That moment will never leave me and I feel sad for Harry, who doesn’t have a brother,” she told The Guardian. “I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt now but I accept it.”
Harry’s fourth birthday marked a turning point, she said. “That was the first time I thought: ‘I’m back. I’m back!’”
In 2023, Hayes co-wrote “Kill the Unicorn,” a book she narrates in which she shares coaching experiences, challenges, and lessons she learned.
The book’s subtitle speaks for itself: “Forget perfection, embrace your flaws, and be your best.”
