🔗 Share this article

Midweek, Bay Collective announced the hiring of Van Ginhoven, England's managerial lead under Sarina Wiegman, as their overseer of worldwide women's football activities. This freshly established multi-team ownership group, with the San Francisco-based Bay FC as the initial addition among its holdings, has previously engaged in bringing in talent from the national football governing body.

The appointment earlier this year of Kay Cossington, the well-respected previous technical director at the Football Association, as the chief executive acted as a clear statement from the collective. Cossington is deeply familiar with female football comprehensively and currently she has assembled a management group with a deep understanding of the evolution of the women's game and laden with practical experience.

She marks the third central staffer of Wiegman’s setup to depart in the current year, with the chief executive exiting prior to the Euros and the assistant manager, Veurink, moving on to become head coach of Holland, but her decision was made earlier.

Moving on was a shock to the system, but “I had decided to exit the national setup some time back”, she states. “The terms lasting four years, exactly like Arjan and Sarina had. When they renewed, I had expressed I didn’t know if I would do the same. I had grown accustomed to the thought that after the European Championship I would no longer be involved with the national team.”

The European Championship became a sentimental event because of this. “I recall distinctly, speaking with Sarina in which I informed her regarding my plans and we then remarked: ‘We share a single dream, what a triumph it would represent if we were to win the European Championship?’ In life, dreams don't aspirations are realized often yet, against the odds, this one did.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, she holds dual affections post her tenure working in England, during which she contributed to winning back-to-back European titles and was a part of Wiegman’s staff for the Netherlands’ triumph in the 2017 European Championship.

“The national team retains a special place in my heart. So, it’s going to be tough, especially with the knowledge that the squad are scheduled to come for national team duty soon,” she says. “In matches between England and the Netherlands, which side do I back? Today I have on orange, but tomorrow I'll be in white.”

A speedboat allows for rapid direction changes. With a compact team such as ours, that’s easily done.

The club was not initially considered when the management specialist determined it was time to move on, but the pieces fell into place at the right time. Cossington initiated the recruitment and common principles were key.

“Almost from the very first moment we got together we felt immediate synergy,” states she. “There was immediate understanding. We have spoken at length on various topics around how you grow the game and our shared vision for the right approach.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are not alone to relocate from well-known positions in Europe's football scene for an uncharted opportunity across the Atlantic. The Spanish club's women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been announced as the organization's worldwide sports director.

“I was highly interested in the deep faith in the potential of women's football,” González explains. “I have known Kay Cossington for an extended period; when I used to work at Fifa, she held the technical director role for England, and such choices are straightforward knowing you are going to be surrounded by people who really inspire you.”

The extensive expertise within their group distinguishes them, says Van Ginhoven, for the collective among a number fresh club ownership ventures which have emerged over the past few years. “That’s one of our unique selling points. Different approaches are acceptable, however we strongly feel in having that football knowledge on board,” she adds. “The entire leadership have progressed within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the mission of this group is to champion and pioneer a forward-thinking and durable system of women’s football clubs, built on proven methods to meet the varied requirements of women in sport. Achieving this, with everyone on the same page, with no need to make the case for why you would take certain actions, is hugely liberating.

“I compare it with transitioning from a tanker to a speedboat,” says Van Ginhoven. “You’re basically driving in uncharted waters – that’s a Dutch saying, I'm unsure if it translates well – and it's necessary to trust your individual understanding and experience to make the right decision. You can pivot and accelerate rapidly in a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that’s easily done.”

González continues: “In this role, we start with a blank slate to build upon. Personally, our work focuses on impacting football on a much broader level and that clean start permits you to undertake any direction you choose, following the sport's regulations. That is the advantage of our collective project.”

Their goals are lofty, the executives are saying the things athletes and supporters hope to hear and it will be fascinating to observe the evolution of this organization, Bay FC and other teams that may join.

To get a sense of future plans, what are the key aspects in a high-performance setting? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve