Gabarra spent the past 10 years with the Washington Freedom, and he was the only coach to lead his team to the playoffs in each of the first two WPS seasons. He began his tenure in Washington in 2001, leading the Freedom to back-to-back appearances in the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) Championship Game in both the 2002 and 2003 campaigns. After winning the 2003 league title in what became the final year of WUSA, Gabarra continued the success in Washington into the USL W-League. He again reached the pinnacle of the sport when he led the Freedom to the 2007 W-League Championship, also being named a W-League Coach of the Year Finalist. After most recently advancing to the playoffs in consecutive WPS seasons, Gabarra stepped down from his position in Washington, making the highly successful coach available for the first time in over a decade.

As a player, Gabarra capped 14 times for the U.S. National Team from 1986-1989, including his playing in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. The Key West native also enjoyed a prolific career in professional indoor soccer and served as captain of the U.S. National Futsal Team from 1986-1996. He originally began his professional playing career outdoors in 1982 when he debuted with the Detroit Express of the American Soccer League (ASL), winning a league championship in his first season of play. The Connecticut College Hall of Fame member then took his game indoors in 1984 with the Louisville Thunder, making successful stops with multiple clubs from then until 1993, also taking his first crack at coaching on the indoor platform.

Hayes was the inaugural head coach of the Chicago Red Stars beginning in 2009, serving with the team over the better of two seasons. After her time in Chicago, she became the Technical Director of the eventual WPS champion Western New York Flash prior to the start of the 2011 season. Prior to the launch of WPS, Hayes was the First Team Assistant Coach and Academy Director of the London-based Arsenal Ladies Football Club of the Women’s Premier League from 2006-08. Before joining the Arsenal staff, the English native served as the head coach of the women’s soccer program of Iona College in New York, guiding the Gaels to back-to-back Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships from 2004-05 and securing MAAC Coach of the Year accolades in 2004. Hayes began her coaching career in 2001 when she took over the Long Island Rough Riders of the USL W-League, remaining with the team for three seasons and winning Coach of the Year honors in 2002.

Rick Stainton brings to Sky Blue FC a bit of local flavor with coaching experience at various levels within New Jersey. After receiving his degree from Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, he served as a coach for the boy’s team at Brick Memorial (NJ) High School for five seasons before returning to his alma mater to become the head coach of the women’s program. His next two stops were as head coach of the women’s team at Caldwell(NJ) College and as an assistant at Rider (NJ) University. Stainton began with Sky Blue FC as its goalkeeper coach before finishing out the 2010 season its head coach. In addition to his role at Sky Blue FC, Stainton additionally serves the Seton Hall University Women's Soccer Program as an assistant coach.

A current member of the U.S. Youth National Team staff, Kipp also worked with the Iceland National Team at the 2009 Algarve Cup. The Ohio native began his coaching career at Iona College in 2003, spending two years working with Hayes, who was the head coach of the program at that time. He then made the move in 2005 to his alma mater, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, working as the women’s goalkeeper coach before heading to Duke University and helping the Blue Devils to a Sweet 16 and back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in his first three seasons there. As a player, Kipp enjoyed a standout college career in Greensboro that eventually led to playing a pair of professional seasons with the Carolina Dynamo of the United Soccer Leagues (USL). That second year saw him post an 0.87 goals against average and earned him USL Goalkeeper of the Year accolades.

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Assistant Coaches: Nicci Wright, Brett Sarsfield