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This past Wednesday, Bay Collective disclosed the appointment of Anja van Ginhoven, England's general manager working with Sarina Wiegman, as their global women's football operations director. This freshly established multi-team ownership group, with San Francisco’s Bay FC as its initial addition in its portfolio, has prior experience in hiring individuals from the Football Association.

The hiring this year of Cossington, the prominent ex-technical director for the FA, to the CEO role served as a demonstration of ambition by this organization. She knows women’s football thoroughly and currently has gathered an executive team with profound insight of women’s football history and filled with practical experience.

Van Ginhoven is the third core member of the manager's inner circle to exit recently, with Cossington leaving prior to the European Championships and the assistant manager, Arjan Veurink, moving on to take up the role of head manager of the Dutch national team, but her move came sooner.

Stepping away has been a surprising shift, but “My choice was made to leave the FA well in advance”, Van Ginhoven states. “I had a contract covering four years, just as Veurink and Wiegman had. When they renewed, I previously indicated I was uncertain whether I would. I was already used to the notion that after the European Championship I wouldn’t be part of England any more.”

The tournament was an emotional event as a result. “I remember very clearly, vividly, having a conversation with the head coach where I basically told her about my decision and we then remarked: ‘There’s just one dream, what a triumph it would represent that we win the Euros?’ In life, dreams don't aspirations are realized frequently yet, absolutely incredibly, this one did.”

Wearing a Netherlands-colored shirt, she experiences split allegiances after her time working in England, during which she contributed to securing consecutive European championships and was a part of the manager's team when the Netherlands won the 2017 Euros.

“The English side will always hold a dear spot in my heart. So, it will be difficult, especially with the knowledge that the squad are scheduled to come for national team duty in the near future,” she says. “In matches between England and the Netherlands, where do my loyalties lie? Right now I'm in Dutch colors, though tomorrow English white.”

In a speedboat, you can pivot and accelerate swiftly. In a small team like this, that is simple to achieve.

The club was not initially considered as the strategic expert concluded that it was time for a change, but the opportunity arose at the right time. Cossington began assembling the team and their shared values proved essential.

“Virtually from the start we got together we felt immediate synergy,” states she. “You’re immediately on the same level. We've discussed extensively regarding multiple aspects concerning growing the sport and our shared vision for the right approach.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are not the only figures to make a move from prominent roles in the European game for a blank sheet of paper in the United States. The Spanish club's female football technical lead, Patricia González, has been announced as the group's new global sporting director.

“I was very attracted to that strong belief in the potential of the women’s game,” she says. “I'm familiar with Cossington for an extended period; during my tenure at Fifa, she was the technical director of England, and decisions like this come naturally when you are aware you are going to be surrounded by individuals who motivate you.”

The depth of knowledge in their team distinguishes them, says she, as Bay Collective one of several recent multi-team projects to launch in recent years. “This is a key differentiator for us. 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 adds. “Each of us have traveled a path in female football, for most of our lives.”

As their website states, the mission for the collective is to advocate and innovate an advanced and lasting environment of women’s football clubs, based on what works to meet the varied requirements of female athletes. Succeeding in this, with unified understanding, without having to justify actions regarding certain decisions, provides great freedom.

“I compare it with moving from a large ship to a fast boat,” says Van Ginhoven. “You’re basically driving across unmapped territories – as we say in the Netherlands, not sure how it comes across – and you just need to rely on your individual understanding and experience for making correct choices. You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. In a lean group like this, it's straightforward to accomplish.”

She adds: “With this opportunity, we start with a blank slate to work from. In my view, our work involves shaping the sport on a much broader level and that blank slate allows you to do whatever you want, within the rules of the game. That’s the beauty of our joint endeavor.”

Their goals are lofty, the executives are voicing opinions athletes and supporters hope to hear and it will be interesting to follow the development of the collective, the team and future additions to the group.

To get a sense of future plans, what factors are essential for a top-level environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve