The Wait Is Over

A New Day

At the North Carolina Courage training complex, the finishing touches were being laid down for this morning's press conference, where the new ownership of the club would be introduced and lay out their vision for the 2016 NWSL champions.

Stephen Malik: Good morning. Today, a new era in women's professional soccer begins in North Carolina, as ownership of the Courage transfers from myself to the Carolina Blue Foundation. When we bought the club and brought it to the region after the 2016 season, it was with the assurance that eventually we would be able to build the brand to the extent that it needed separate ownership and management from that of North Carolina FC, a contrast to that of other clubs in the league who have partnered with men's teams. The club is in excellent hands with the Carolina Blue Foundation, under the leadership of executive director Bill Palladino and chief operating officer Wendy Gebauer Palladino. May I introduce the first president of the independent North Carolina Courage, Heather O'Reilly.

Heather O'Reilly: Thank you, Stephen. This day was a LONG time in coming, but they say that good things come to those who wait. It has been the dream of a number of Tarheel graduates to eventually own a team in the NWSL, and it made perfect sense for it to be the Courage. There were times when negotiations got testy, and we felt like we were aiming at a constantly-moving target, but in the end, the league and Stephen came through to bring this to reality. I would first like to thank my husband, Dave, for dealing with my constant travels in the pursuit of investment capital. Second, the fans of the Courage have been nothing but fantastic during this period of transition. I would also like to give a shout-out to my fellow Tarheels around the league who are on the business side of the sport now. Mia Hamm, Yael Averbuch, and Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak showed me that there was a path for women to stay in the game and encourage a new generation of women to dream big and aim for the C-suites. I would like to introduce a few members of our incoming staff. To my right is our new general manager, Cindy Parlow Cone. Next to her is new goalkeeper coach Adelaide Gay. On my left is Scott Vallow, who will be retained as our assistant coach through the end of the season, and next to him is Anson Dorrance, the godfather of Carolina soccer who will serve as a senior advisor to myself and Cindy. In the coming days, we will announce our new head coach as well as make some moves to stabilize the team that was thrown overboard to an extent over the past 18-24 months by our predecessor. I welcome any questions you have for myself or for members of our technical staff.

Andy Mead (Yellow Card Journalism): What areas of the team are you looking to revamp following the gifting away of so much talent the past two years?

Cindy stepped to the mic. "Our defense right now is definitely lacking, with only one of last year's starters still with the team. The acquisition of Kassey Kallman and Kelsey Wys was somewhat positive at a pair of positions that would have seen player absence next season due to the World Cup. Tori Huster is not at the level of Sam Mewis or McCall Zerboni, who left the Courage in the past twelve months or so, but she is a solid professional defensive midfielder who will help us re-shape the rest of the midfield."

Luke DeCock (Raleigh News and Observer): This is for Heather and Cindy. Have either of you been in discussions with other teams yet about trades, particularly ones near the basement of both conferences?

Heather: I've had preliminary conversations with a couple of other teams, but nothing that can be considered finalized.

Mandy Mitchell (WRAL-TV): On the coaching front, have you made a decision on who it will be or is that still to be determined?

Cindy: We have selected her, but are waiting until later in the week to make the announcement due to other happenings in the league.

Bridget Condon (ABC11): Can the Courage make a move the final eight games to secure a playoff spot?

Heather: Wanna take this, Scott?

Scott: Given the standings, should everyone ahead of us stay on their current point pace, we would need to win six of the last eight to be in position to pip either Atlanta or Orlando for the third spot. Can this team do it? From an offensive standpoint, yes. The defense needs to be fixed, however, if we expect to grind out enough games to get those 18 points.

The press conference came to a close. Heather and Cindy took some additional questions from the media and Scott answered a couple of inquiries concerning the transition to the new head coach and plans for the July 23rd match at Chicago before the three of them headed back to their offices.

***

Life for the Eastern Conference leaders returned to somewhat normal following their two-week trek out west that saw then bring home a win and two draws and further entrenched them as the team to beat this season. Yael and Steph saw Dr. Fleet for their monthly baby wellness check, with all things checking out well. Dr. Fleet also told the pair that their partner in the Urban Coaching Project is the same Marc Schmidt as the on-call minister for Sam and Abby's wedding. Speaking of those two, they flew to Atlanta from LA on Monday morning to meet with Sarah and help move her and EJ's belongings to Boston. They also used the visit to see Lindsey and Emily, along with Morgan, Kelley, and Stephen.

On Wednesday in Houston, Kealia Ohai and her husband, JJ Watt, along with Megan and Brian Cushing (Kealia's sister and brother-in-law) announced their purchase of the Dash along with the dismissal of club president Chris Canetti. Amanda Cromwell was temporarily given the dual role of head coach and technical director pending the hiring of a general manager.

On Thursday, the Courage announced that former US National Team captain and 1999 Women's World Cup champion Carla Overbeck had been hired as the club's new head coach. Additionally, Cindy, Mia, and Tiffany worked out the particulars for their three-team trade that in the end would send Sammy Jo to Los Angeles to reunite with Katelyn, which would be announced tomorrow.

***

This week's US National Team camp in New Jersey has been tenser than normal, both due to the competition among the athletes as well as the lack of experienced bodies to help players bond with one another. The idea to put combatants together as roommates didn't prove to be effective, and following Wednesday night's embarrassment sessions that didn't draw nearly as well as in prior camps, Joy was forced to move onto the Philadelphia roommate list to get some degree of camaraderie going between the players. The adjustment seemed to do the trick, as Thursday training sessions were crisper and more productive than the ones earlier in the week. The provisional first XI for Saturday's match against Spain began to circulate around the hotel, with a couple of surprises but a fairly straightforward starting lineup.

USA: Rowland; Gilliland, Roccaro (c), Oyster, Gibbons; Dougherty Howard, Andrews, Killion; Huerta, McCaffrey, Mewis.