How I Became The Coach Of A Celebrity-Backed Women’s Soccer Team

Growing up just outside of London, England, Freya Coombe was, naturally, obsessed with football — or soccer, as we know it stateside. The sport, however, was (and remains) male-dominated, which meant she had limited opportunities to play. Not that she let that stop her. When she was young, she cut her hair short and disguised herself as a boy in order to access the same level of play as her male peers.

Coombe’s love of the game has persisted all these years and one continent later: Today she’s the head coach of the L.A.-based Angel City FC, which debuted in 2022 as part of the National Women’s Soccer League. In its first season, the team led the league in fan attendance — recording an average of 19,000 people per game, according to ESPN, and has been backed by a number of high-profile investors including Natalie Portman, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, and Gabrielle Union.

Leading the roster of two dozen women athletes is a dream job, but it’s not quite a role Coombe thought she’d end up in. When it came time to attend university, she planned to become a sports psychologist, and even earned a master’s degree in the field. That path was Coombe’s choice, but deep down something wasn’t sitting right. “I realized my passion was still in day-to-day involvement with players in a team environment,” says Coombe, who also played professionally for English team Reading FC and got involved with the team behind the scenes while studying. “I knew I wanted to do it full-time.”

She coached for a few years in her home country, but it wasn’t always easy. “A big part of that is how women are perceived within [these] roles,” she says. “A lot of people would come up and shake the hand of a male member of staff thinking they were the head coach when it was actually [me].” Eventually, Coombe decided she’d move to the U.S. to coach — she knew that, of course, the scene across the pond wasn’t perfect either, but had seen how more progress there had been in the women’s side of the sport due to greater access to youth programs, mentorship, and funding. She started out at the local level in New York and worked her way up to the national level.

Making a living wage has also been a challenge historically, according to Coombe. A coach’s job is undoubtedly driven by passion, but it still requires a lot of hard work and long hours. Game days, for example, involve prep, going over strategy with the athletes, leading warmups, and requires Coombe to have a focused mindset as she tries to stay calm during the highs and lows of competition.

She initially was paid “pretty poorly,” she says, but stuck to her path because she knew she had a chance of getting her foot in the door. Through the years since, she has personally seen a “dramatic change” in the salaries women can make at the coaching level, and hopes to see that continue. In order to push the sport forward and attract the best talent possible, Coombe truly believes that people need to be paid appropriately. 

To other women who hope to also become a professional coach one day, Coombe has some sage advice: “Persevere. It’s not easy in terms of getting these opportunities and, at times, you’re going to come into environments and not feel entirely comfortable or confident. Just recognize that you’ve got to keep going through it.”