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This past Wednesday, the Bay Collective group disclosed the appointment of Anja van Ginhoven, the English national team's general manager under Sarina Wiegman, taking on the role of overseer of worldwide women's football activities. The freshly established multi-team ownership group, featuring Bay FC of San Francisco as its initial addition within its group, has previously engaged in hiring individuals from the national football governing body.

The selection this year of Kay Cossington, the influential previous technical director at the Football Association, as the chief executive was a signal of intent from this organization. Cossington knows female football inside out and now has gathered a management group with a deep understanding of the evolution of the women's game and laden with experience.

She is the third key figure of the manager's inner circle to exit this year, with Cossington exiting before the Euros and deputy manager, Veurink, moving on to assume the position of head coach of the Netherlands, however her move arrived more quickly.

Moving on proved to be a surprising shift, but “I’d taken my decision to leave the FA some time back”, Van Ginhoven explains. “My agreement for four years, exactly like the assistant and head coach did. When they renewed, I previously indicated I wasn't sure about renewing myself. I was already used to the notion that post-Euros my time with England would end.”

The European Championship was a deeply felt tournament due to that. “I recall distinctly, speaking with the head coach when I disclosed about my decision and we then remarked: ‘We share a single dream, what a triumph it would represent that we win the Euros?’ Generally, it's rare that hopes materialize every day yet, against the odds, this one did.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, she experiences split allegiances post her tenure in England, where she was part of claiming two Euros in a row and served on the manager's team during the Dutch victory in the 2017 European Championship.

“The English side will always hold an emotional connection for me. So, it’s going to be tough, especially with the knowledge that the team are due to arrive for national team duty soon,” she says. “When England plays the Netherlands, who do I support? Right now I'm in Dutch colors, but tomorrow it’s white.”

You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. With a compact team such as ours, that’s easily done.

The American side was not initially considered as the management specialist was deciding it was time to move on, but the pieces fell into place at the right time. The chief executive started to bring people in and mutual beliefs were crucial.

“Essentially upon meeting we got together we felt immediate synergy,” says Van Ginhoven. “There was immediate understanding. Our conversations have been thorough regarding multiple aspects around how you grow the game and the methods we believe are correct.”

The two leaders are among several to make a move from prominent roles within European football for a blank sheet of paper across the Atlantic. The Spanish club's female football technical lead, González, has been introduced as the group's new global sporting director.

“I was very attracted by the firm conviction regarding the strength of the women’s game,” she explains. “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 decisions like this come naturally when you know you'll be working alongside people who really inspire you.”

The depth of knowledge in their team distinguishes them, explains she, with Bay Collective part of a group new multi-club initiatives to launch over the past few years. “It's a standout feature of our approach. Various methods are valid, but we are firm in our belief in ensuring deep football understanding,” she adds. “Each of us have traveled a path within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the goal for the collective is to support and lead a progressive and sustainable ecosystem for women's football clubs, built on proven methods addressing the different demands of women in sport. Doing that, with everyone on the same page, eliminating the need for persuasion for why you would take certain actions, provides great freedom.

“I compare it with going from a tanker to a speedboat,” remarks she. “You’re basically driving through waters that there are no roadmaps for – that’s a Dutch saying, I don’t know if it translates – and it's necessary to trust your personal insight and skills for making correct choices. You can change direction and move quickly with a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that is simple to achieve.”

She notes: “Here, we start with a blank slate to build upon. Personally, our work involves shaping the sport more extensively and that white paper allows you to do any direction you choose, within the rules of the game. That is the advantage of our collective project.”

The aspirations are significant, those in leading roles are expressing sentiments players and fans are eager to hear and it will be compelling to follow the development of the collective, the club and any clubs added to the portfolio.

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