Emma Hayes, Head Coach & Director of Soccer Operations
Emma Hayes was named the inaugural head coach and director of soccer operations for Chicago Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) on May 15, 2008.
Since 2006, Hayes has served as first team assistant coach and academy director at the FA’s Women’s Premier League’s top-ranked Arsenal Ladies Football Club in London, England. Hayes helped guide the Lady Gunners to an undefeated League record and won every competition England has to offer. Previously, she spent six years coaching in the United States, from the grass roots level all the way through the W-league and Division 1 college level.
Hayes also brings significant broadcast experience to Chicago WPS, most notably as the lead analyst for Eurosport during the 2007 Women’s World Cup in China delivering televised color commentary on the matches. She has been selected as a featured clinician at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national convention the last two years, and has extensive youth experience working as a senior staff member of the Region 1 Olympic Development Program (ODP) since 2004.
As first team assistant at Arsenal Ladies, Hayes’ responsibilities included planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating all aspects of professional women’s soccer team including coaching games, running training sessions, recruiting players and scheduling.
During her tenure at Arsenal, Hayes helped guide the Lady Gunners to the following honors:
- 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup Winners
- 2007 FA Women’s Premiere League Cup Winners
- 2007-2008 London County FA Women’s Cup Winners
- 2006-2007-2008 FA Women’s Premier League Champions
- 2006-2007-2008 FA Women’s Cup Winners
- 2006 FA Women’s Community Shield Winners
As academy director, Hayes oversaw Arsenal’s elite 16 to 19-year-old residential program. She directed and developed all soccer training and hired and supervised assistants. She also championed the Arsenal Ladies Cup, England’s first and only all-girls international football tournament to be held in London.
Prior to joining Arsenal, Hayes served as head women’s soccer coach at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. There she was responsible for delivering all aspects of the NCAA Division 1 soccer program including team training, tactics, video analysis, nutrition, fitness, health and wellness. She hired and supervised assistants, recruited elite college-bound athletes from throughout the United States, maintained the team’s budget, directed and organized youth tournaments, raised funds, managed media-relations, organized team travel and ordered equipment.
Hayes’ honors at Iona included the 2004 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Coach of the Year and the 2004-2005 MAAC Conference Championships.
Hayes also served as head coach domestically from 2001-2003 in the W-League with the Long Island Lady Riders. There she identified, recruited, developed, managed and retained the best female soccer athletes in the region for the first and reserve teams, worked with college coaches across the country, developed individual player programs, dealt with sponsors, managed media relations and organized travel.
The 31-year-old native of London’s Camden Borough was recognized for her efforts with the Lady Riders as the 2002 National Coach of the Year as the youngest female head coach in W-League history.
The bilingual (Spanish and English) Hayes is a 1999 graduate of the University of Liverpool with a BA in European Studies, Sociology and Spanish.