{"id":1313053,"date":"2019-07-31T16:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T22:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/us-in-flux-ellis-leaves-gm-coming-soon-and-olympics-loom\/"},"modified":"2019-07-31T16:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T22:04:00","slug":"us-in-flux-ellis-leaves-gm-coming-soon-and-olympics-loom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/us-in-flux-ellis-leaves-gm-coming-soon-and-olympics-loom\/","title":{"rendered":"US in flux: Ellis leaves, GM coming soon and Olympics loom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – This Nov. 12, 2017 file photo shows United States head coach Jill Ellis before an international friendly women’s soccer match against Canada in San Jose, Calif. A person with knowledge of the situation says Ellis is stepping down after leading the team to back-to-back Women\u2019s World Cup titles. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity Tuesday, July 30, 2019 because the resignation has not been officially announced. (AP Photo\/Eric Risberg, file)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Fresh off of a repeat performance as World Cup champions, the U.S. women\u2019s national team finds itself in flux.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Jill Ellis announced she was stepping down after more than five years as the team\u2019s head coach. Under Ellis, the United States won eight total tournaments, including two World Cups, and lost just seven games.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, U.S. Soccer is in the process of naming the team\u2019s new general manager, who will report to President Carlos Cordeiro and chief executive officer Dan Flynn. The GM, expected to be appointed soon, will lead the search for a new coach.<\/p>\n

Ellis, the national team\u2019s third female coach, hopes it will be another woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are a lot of qualified females. You also hope by doing it people have trust a female can do this,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople have seen it and people potentially want to aspire to coach, not just soccer but whatever sport. You really hope that is part of the legacy you leave behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once named, the new coach will be taxed quickly with preparing the team for Olympic qualifying and next summer\u2019s Tokyo Games. Ellis said she\u2019d be there for her successor: \u201cI want whoever comes next to know that there will be that support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanging over all of the immediate uncertainty is the legal dispute between the women\u2019s team and U.S. soccer. The players filed a federal lawsuit last March accusing the federation of gender discrimination in matters including pay.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit capped a long-simmering dispute between the federation and the players, who claim they deserve to make as much as their counterparts on the men\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n

The two sides have agreed to mediation now that the World Cup is over.<\/p>\n

Ellis steps away after winning back-to-back titles in soccer\u2019s premier global tournament. Her contract was set to expire following the World Cup, and she said Tuesday she started to think months ago about leaving following the event in France.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll stay with the team through its five-game victory tour, which starts Saturday against Ireland at the Rose Bowl. After that, she\u2019ll serve as an ambassador for U.S. Soccer for at least a year.<\/p>\n

Ellis said she wants to spend more time with her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of this is good. Not only on a personal level but also for the program in terms of preparing to start a new cycle,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously been a fantastic run and fantastic ride. I\u2019m going to enjoy these last few games.\u201d<\/p>\n

The top-ranked U.S. team has been dominant throughout Ellis\u2019 tenure. The team went undefeated in the 2015 World Cup in Canada en route to a 5-2 victory over Japan in the title match. The United States gave up just three goals over the course of the tournament.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the U.S. defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in Lyon, France, to claim its second straight championship \u2014 pulling off challenging knockout victories over No. 4 France and No. 3 England. The Americans never trailed at the tournament and set records with 26 goals and a 12-game World Cup winning streak dating to 2015. Ellis became the first coach to lead a team to two Women\u2019s World Cup titles.<\/p>\n

But there were also moments of disappointment. The defending champions were knocked out in the quarterfinals in the 2016 Brazil Olympics by Sweden, the team\u2019s earliest departure ever in the tournament. Afterward, there was some grumbling behind the scenes as Ellis shifted players and experimented with tactics.<\/p>\n

Overall, Ellis led the team in 127 matches with 102 wins. She coached the team for more games than any of her seven predecessors.<\/p>\n

Ellis became head coach in 2014, promoted after taking over on an interim basis following the dismissal of Tom Sermanni. She also served as interim coach after Pia Sundhage resigned in 2012.<\/p>\n

She was an assistant to both and was on the staff of the gold medal-winning teams at the Beijing and London Olympics. She also served as head coach at UCLA for 12 seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a job that someone sits in for 10 years,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cChange is good. A position like this should not be forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the same day that Ellis announced her resignation, Sundhage was introduced as the new head coach of the Brazilian women\u2019s team. Asked about some of the changes she plans to implement, Sundhage said Brazil needs \u201can American mentality\u201d and \u201cSwedish organization\u201d to win more.<\/p>\n

Ellis hasn\u2019t decided on her next move. Her decision to leave wasn\u2019t entirely unexpected, although many thought she\u2019d stay on through the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just need to take a step back and take it all in and see what next intrigues me and piques my interest,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The United States is set to play Portugal on Aug. 29 in Philadelphia, and on Sept. 3 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The final two matches of the victory tour, set for early October, have not yet been announced.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – This Nov. 12, 2017 file photo shows United States head coach Jill Ellis before an international friendly women’s soccer match against Canada in San Jose, Calif. A person with knowledge of the situation says Ellis is stepping down after leading the team to back-to-back Women\u2019s World Cup titles. The person spoke on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1313053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 14:50:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313053\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}