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Midweek, the Bay Collective group announced the recruitment of Van Ginhoven, the English national team's general manager under head coach Sarina Wiegman, to serve as their director of global women’s football operations. The freshly established collective club ownership initiative, with Bay FC of San Francisco as the inaugural team among its holdings, has prior experience in recruiting from the English FA.

The selection in recent months of Cossington, the prominent previous technical director at the Football Association, to the CEO role served as a signal of intent by Bay Collective. She understands female football thoroughly and currently has gathered a leadership team that possesses extensive knowledge of the history of women's football and packed with practical experience.

Van Ginhoven marks the third central staffer of Wiegman's coaching team to depart recently, following the chief executive exiting prior to the European Championships and the assistant manager, Arjan Veurink, moving on to take up the role of head manager of the Netherlands, however her move came sooner.

Moving on has been a jarring experience, but “I had decided to depart the Football Association some time back”, she says. “I had a contract for four years, similar to the assistant and head coach had. When they renewed, I had expressed I didn’t know whether I would. I had grown accustomed to the notion that post-Euros I would no longer be involved with the national team.”

The Euros turned into a deeply felt competition because of this. “I remember very clearly, vividly, discussing with Sarina where I basically told her about my decision and then we said: ‘We share a single dream, how amazing would it be to clinch the European title?’ Generally, dreams don't dreams come true frequently however, against the odds, this one did.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, she experiences split allegiances after her time with the English team, where she was part of securing consecutive European championships and served on the coaching setup during the Dutch victory the 2017 Euros.

“The English side will always hold a special place in my heart. Therefore, it will be challenging, notably since that the players will be arriving for the upcoming fixtures shortly,” she comments. “When England plays the Netherlands, which side do I back? Today I have on orange, though tomorrow English white.”

You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. In a lean group like this one, that is simple to achieve.

The club was not part of the equation as the strategic expert concluded it was time to move on, however everything aligned opportunely. Cossington initiated the recruitment and their shared values proved essential.

“Essentially upon meeting we met we felt immediate synergy,” remarks Van Ginhoven. “We were instantly aligned. Our conversations have been thorough regarding multiple aspects around how you grow the game and our shared vision for the right approach.”

These executives are among several to uproot themselves from well-known positions within European football for an uncharted opportunity in the United States. Atlético Madrid’s technical director for women's football, González, has been unveiled as Bay Collective’s worldwide sports director.

“I felt strongly drawn by the firm conviction of the power of the women’s game,” she explains. “I have known Kay Cossington for many years; when I used to work at Fifa, she was the technical director of England, and decisions like this come naturally knowing you are going to be surrounded by individuals who motivate you.”

The depth of knowledge in their team distinguishes them, explains Van Ginhoven, as Bay Collective among a number recent multi-team projects to launch over the past few years. “This is a key differentiator for us. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, but we are firm in our belief in ensuring deep football understanding,” she adds. “All three of us have progressed within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the goal of this group is to champion and pioneer a forward-thinking and durable system for women's football clubs, built on proven methods to meet the varied requirements of women. Doing that, with unified understanding, without having to justify actions for specific initiatives, provides great freedom.

“I compare it with going from a tanker to a speedboat,” remarks Van Ginhoven. “You’re basically driving across unmapped territories – that’s a Dutch saying, I'm unsure if it translates well – and you just need to rely on your own knowledge and expertise for making correct choices. You can change direction and move quickly with a speedboat. In a lean group like this, that’s easily done.”

González notes: “Here, we have a completely white sheet of paper to build upon. For me, our mission focuses on impacting football on a much broader level and that blank slate enables you to pursue whatever you want, within the rules of the game. That’s the beauty of our joint endeavor.”

Their goals are lofty, those in leading roles are saying the things the football community are eager to hear and it will be interesting to monitor the progress of this organization, the team and any clubs added to the portfolio.

For a flavour of what is to come, what factors are essential of a high-performance environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve