Bev Yanez sat in a chair in one of Racing Louisville’s offices with a bemused smile, her posture set with excitement.
“People strive their entire lives to say that they’ve done it once, right?” she said. “Something that they really love and that they’ve really been passionate about. And I now get to say that for two things.”
Yanez is, of course, talking about her love of both playing and coaching soccer. For almost a decade, Yanez had a successful professional playing career as an attacker that took her around the world to places like Norway and Japan, before settling for the majority of her career in the National Women’s Soccer League with the Seattle Reign. The whole time she was playing, Yanez was fostering a love of coaching as well, and from the time she was only 23 years old, she says her dream was to someday become the head coach of a professional club.
On Thursday, that dream came true when Racing Louisville announced that Yanez would be the club’s new head coach. She had spent the previous year as an assistant in Louisville and is replacing the previous coach, Kim Björkegren, who vacated the position at the end of last season after a two-year stint.
“We could not be more excited for Bev to lead Racing Louisville into the future,” Racing Louisville general manager Ryan Dell said. “During her time in Louisville this past season and throughout the interview process, we have seen how dedicated, tactically sound, and innovative she is. Bev’s commitment to development and her NWSL experience stood out in the search process, and in every conversation we had about her role, her immense potential was clear. She can be a championship-winning coach at Racing Louisville, and she embodies what we want in a head coach both on and off the pitch.”
Yanez sat down with The Equalizer to discuss her new role, where she sees Louisville heading, and what it means to see more former players becoming head coaches.
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