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This past Wednesday, this new ownership entity revealed the hiring of Van Ginhoven, England's general manager under head coach Sarina Wiegman, taking on the role of global women's football operations director. This new collective club ownership initiative, with Bay FC of San Francisco as the first club in its portfolio, has a history in recruiting from the national football governing body.

The selection earlier this year of Kay Cossington, the prominent former FA technical director, as the chief executive was a signal of intent from Bay Collective. Cossington is deeply familiar with female football inside out and currently has gathered a leadership team with a deep understanding of the evolution of the women's game and filled with professional background.

She marks the third central staffer of the manager's inner circle to leave recently, with the chief executive leaving prior to the European Championships and assistant coach, Arjan Veurink, leaving to take up the role of head coach of the Netherlands, however her decision arrived more quickly.

Stepping away proved to be a jarring experience, but “I’d taken my decision to depart the Football Association quite a long time ago”, she says. “I had a contract covering four years, similar to Arjan and Sarina did. Upon their extension, I had already said I didn’t know if I would do the same. I had grown accustomed to the notion that post-Euros I would no longer be involved with the national team.”

The tournament became an emotional tournament as a result. “I recall distinctly, speaking with Sarina where I basically told her of my choice and then we said: ‘There’s just one dream, how incredible it would be that we win the Euros?’ In life, it's rare that aspirations are realized often but, absolutely incredibly, this one did.”

Dressed in orange, she has divided loyalties after her time in England, during which she contributed to securing consecutive European championships and worked within the manager's team during the Dutch victory in the 2017 European Championship.

“The national team retains a dear spot in my heart. So, it’s going to be tough, especially with the knowledge that the players will be arriving for national team duty soon,” she says. “In matches between England and the Netherlands, where do my loyalties lie? Today I have on orange, but tomorrow I'll be in white.”

In a speedboat, you can pivot and accelerate swiftly. In a small team like this, that’s easily done.

The American side was not in the plans when the organisational wizard concluded that a new chapter was needed, but the opportunity arose opportunely. The chief executive began assembling the team and their shared values were crucial.

“Almost from the very first moment we met we experienced an instant connection,” remarks she. “There was immediate understanding. Our conversations have been thorough on various topics around how you grow the game and the methods we believe are correct.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are not the only figures to make a move from prominent roles in Europe's football scene for an uncharted opportunity in the US. Atlético Madrid’s women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been introduced as the organization's worldwide sports director.

“I was very attracted in the deep faith of the power of the women’s game,” González says. “I've been acquainted with Kay Cossington for a long time; back when I was with Fifa, she was the technical director of England, and such choices are straightforward knowing you'll be working alongside colleagues who drive you.”

The profound understanding among their staff makes them unique, says she, as Bay Collective among a number recent multi-team projects that have started over the past few years. “That’s one of our unique selling points. Different approaches are acceptable, however we strongly feel in having that football knowledge on board,” she says. “All three of us have been on a journey within the women's game, throughout our careers.”

According to their online statement, the ambition of Bay Collective is to advocate and innovate a forward-thinking and durable system within female football clubs, founded on effective practices to meet the varied requirements of women. Succeeding in this, with collective agreement, with no need to make the case for specific initiatives, is hugely liberating.

“I equate it to going from a tanker to a speedboat,” remarks she. “You are essentially navigating through waters that there are no roadmaps for – that’s a Dutch saying, I don’t know if it translates – and you must depend on your personal insight and skills to choose wisely. Adjusting course and speeding up is possible using a speedboat. In a lean group like this, that is simple to achieve.”

González adds: “In this role, we begin with a clean canvas to work from. In my view, our work is about influencing the game on a much broader level and that blank slate permits you to undertake anything you desire, following the sport's regulations. This is the appeal of our collective project.”

The aspirations are significant, the executives are expressing sentiments the football community want to hear and it will be compelling to monitor the progress of this organization, the club and other teams that may join.

For a flavour of what is to come, what factors are essential of a high-performance environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve