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Kim Wyant was running a training session at Stony Brook when she heard a voice over her shoulder.
This voice, coming from an adjacent field, had command. It knew what it was doing. It was female. Wyant, whose job encompassed knowing “every female coach on Long Island, Westchester and New York City,” was confused. She had no idea who this coach was, and waited around after wrapping up practice to introduce herself.
“It turned out,” Wyant said, “to be Emma Hayes.”
Hayes was working for a soccer camp that, Wyant now assumes, had a branding agreement with MLS. Young, British and in her mid-20s, Hayes was so good that Wyant wanted to hire her away to work for the Long Island Lady Riders, the semipro team for which she played and helped run business operations.