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This past Wednesday, the Bay Collective group disclosed the appointment of Van Ginhoven, the English national team's general manager working with Sarina Wiegman, to serve as their global women's football operations director. The new multi-club ownership body, with the San Francisco-based Bay FC as the inaugural team in its portfolio, has a history in recruiting from the English FA.

The hiring this year of Cossington, the prominent former FA technical director, to the CEO role served as a clear statement by the collective. She knows women’s football comprehensively and now has put together a management group with a deep understanding of women’s football history and filled with practical experience.

Van Ginhoven becomes the third central staffer of Wiegman's coaching team to depart recently, following the chief executive exiting prior to the European Championships and deputy manager, Veurink, stepping down to take up the role of manager of Holland, but her decision came sooner.

Moving on has been a jarring experience, yet “My choice was made to depart the Football Association quite a long time ago”, Van Ginhoven explains. “My agreement covering four years, just as Arjan and Sarina had. When they renewed, I previously indicated I wasn't sure whether I would. I had accepted the thought that following the tournament my time with England would end.”

The European Championship was an emotional competition because of this. “I recall distinctly, discussing with the head coach when I disclosed of my choice and after which we agreed: ‘We share a single dream, how incredible it would be if we were to win the European Championship?’ In life, it’s not like aspirations are realized frequently but, remarkably, ours came true.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, Van Ginhoven has divided loyalties following her stint in England, where she was part of winning back-to-back European titles and worked within the coaching setup when the Netherlands won the 2017 Euros.

“England will always hold a special place in my heart. So, it’s going to be tough, especially with the knowledge that the team are scheduled to come for national team duty in the near future,” she notes. “When England plays the Netherlands, where do my loyalties lie? Today I have on orange, but tomorrow I'll be in white.”

You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. In a small team like this, that’s easily done.

The club was not part of the equation when the management specialist determined that a new chapter was needed, but the pieces fell into place perfectly. The chief executive began assembling the team and mutual beliefs were key.

“Almost from the very first moment we got together we had that click moment,” remarks Van Ginhoven. “There was immediate understanding. Our conversations have been thorough on various topics concerning growing the sport and what we think is the right way.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are among several to relocate from prominent roles in Europe's football scene for a fresh start in the United States. Atlético Madrid’s women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been introduced as Bay Collective’s global sporting director.

“I was highly interested in the deep faith of the power of women's football,” she explains. “I've been acquainted with Kay Cossington for many years; back when I was with Fifa, she served as England's technical director, and such choices are straightforward when you know you will have around you individuals who motivate you.”

The depth of knowledge in their team makes them unique, notes Van Ginhoven, with Bay Collective one of several new multi-club initiatives to launch lately. “It's a standout feature of our approach. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, but we are firm in our belief in having that football knowledge on board,” she states. “Each of us have progressed within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the ambition of Bay Collective is to advocate and innovate an advanced and lasting environment within female football clubs, based on what works to meet the varied requirements of women. Succeeding in this, with everyone on the same page, without having to justify actions for why you would take certain actions, is hugely liberating.

“I equate it to moving from a large ship to a fast boat,” remarks she. “You're journeying in uncharted waters – that’s a Dutch saying, I don’t know if it translates – and you just need to rely on your personal insight and skills to choose wisely. You can pivot and accelerate rapidly in a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, it's straightforward to accomplish.”

She continues: “With this opportunity, we start with a blank slate to start with. In my view, our mission involves shaping the sport on a wider scale and that white paper enables you to pursue whatever you want, following the sport's regulations. That’s the beauty of what we are building together.”

Their goals are lofty, the executives are saying the things athletes and supporters hope to hear and it will be interesting to observe the evolution of this organization, the club and future additions to the group.

To get a sense of future plans, what are the key aspects of a high-performance environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve