Emma Hayes Reveals How She Earned USWNT Players’ Trust – “More Powerful Than Just Making Noise”

Emma Hayes and the USWNT seem like a match made in heaven. Other than winning an Olympic gold with them in two months, Hayes has helped a myriad of US stars to unlock the peak of their potential. That’s a coaching job done in a wholesome fashion we’re speaking about. But all this starts with winning over a young and effervescent bunch as the current USWNT. It’s easier said than done. But Hayes, who is famous for her calm made no noise or theatrics when it came down to impressing the US players on Day 01.

Emma Hayes has recently spoken at length about powering the USWNT’s first gold medal win in 12 years. During the conversation, she was asked to reveal how she embarked on the journey of leading this new generation of USWNT superstars. “I played a 2-minute video. That’s how I opened it up,” said Hayes during her recent appearance on The Sports Agents podcast.

She said the video had the clips of her pressers from the last season at Chelsea, stitched together with some “inspirational” moments from the Olympics. “I introduced myself that way to the group. And I felt that would be more emotive and more powerful than just making noise,” the former Chelsea coach added. And the British coach’s calm and innovative approach has paid off at the end. Speaking of innovation, the 47-year-old would later again depend on an inspiring video to instill in USWNT stars the grit to feature in the Olympic semi-finals.

Here’s how Emma Hayes used an ultramarathoner’s story to help USWNT stars overcome fatigue

Throughout the Olympic tournament, Emma Hayes was questioned for her no-substitution policy, which visibly wore out the US players. But she instigated the naysayers by saying she wants her players to suffer. To teach her players that suffering is good, the British coach showed them the videos of the ultra-marathoner Courtney Dawaulter. In the said video, Dawaulter speaks about the concept of ‘pain caves.’

According to the ultra runner, pain caves occur to an athlete at a point when they can’t physically take it anymore. At this point, you will depend on your brain to dig deeper and find the zeal to push yourself. Hayes used this video and the pain caves concept as a textbook for the USWNT stars to follow in their semi-final against Germany. And every other US star weathered a storm and got themselves out of these pain caves to reclaim the top spot for the USWNT.