After more than a decade of playing professional soccer, Angela Salem could count the number of female head coaches she had had on one hand.
Last year, Salem retired after a 12-year playing career and made the leap. As an assistant for the Washington Spirit, she’s now one of four former NWSL players across 12 coaching staffs, benefiting from recent pushes by the league and its players association to open up those roles.
In a league that has reckoned with gender inequity in the coaching sphere, it’s significant that its former players are now helping shape the next generation.
“I think there’s definitely added pressure now just to be a female coach because you want to be successful and you want other people to be successful. But I also think there’s large value in that,” said Salem, 34. “My messaging can be different from a male staff member, or I can bring a different perspective that maybe a man couldn’t. I appreciate being in this role because of that and value that other women in this league are coaching and already doing it.”
In nine NWSL seasons, Salem was a standout midfielder, winning four trophies with the Portland Thorns and earning an MVP finalist nod in 2021, her last season as a player. That year coincided with a leaguewide moment of reckoning after allegations of abuse prompted players to call for change.
Five male coaches lost their jobs in 2021 amid misconduct allegations. An investigation later found that abuse in the league had been widespread and male coaches had been able to flout U.S. Soccer’s licensing standards to receive positions. The NWSL faced calls to create pathways for women, people of color and former players to enter the coaching ranks.
In 2021, Salem earned her B license, the second-highest level of coaching certification, in an all-women course that involved weeks of classes, group projects and coaching youth teams in Portland. The NWSL, its players union and the U.S. Soccer Federation covered the cost of the course, which was flexible enough to be completed in-season. (Three other members of the 24-person class have since accepted coaching roles in the NWSL.)
“To rebuild our league into what we know it can and should be, we also knew that it wasn’t enough to hold bad actors accountable,” NWSL Players Association director Meghann Burke said in an email. “We had to build a pipeline of qualified candidates and good humans with a passion for women’s professional soccer. When players looked around at each other, players decided we had the answer right in front of us — but we needed a system of education and training.”
Salem initially thought her post-playing future might take a turn toward counseling, the field in which she trained for years and received a master’s degree in clinical mental health education. When coaching offers came after she announced her retirement in February 2022, she wasn’t sure whether she was ready to jump back in.
She had witnessed the highs and lows of the league’s first era, often up close as a team representative with the players association. She realized she could contribute to shaping its future — this time, from the sidelines.
“I thought I could help in a way of just understanding the player point of view and being a reliable kind of safe space,” Salem said. “Players have a hard time trusting coaches now after all this, and it seems like it’s getting better, but I at least wanted to be there and help players.”
The first days with the Spirit gave Salem a deeper appreciation for the work that often went unseen at a club and reinforced her belief that she could bring a valuable perspective to a staff. She helped Washington navigate the struggles of last season’s 11th-place finish, taking over as interim coach for one game after a coaching change. The club’s hiring of Mark Parsons in November reunited her with a coach whom she played under for five seasons, one with the Spirit and four with the Thorns.
“Her knowledge of the game and reading on the game is so good that she can simplify and communicate messages from the big picture of, ‘This is how we want to play,’ ” Parsons said. “On the pitch, she brings quality. Off the pitch, she brings quality. … I hit the jackpot, getting Ang on this staff.”
This past October, Salem took on another challenge: pursuing her professional career while also being a parent. Her daughter, Mila, is now 8 months old.
Salem praised the support she has received in the past year. Her dad helps with child care when she and her fiancé aren’t in the same place, and the club has assisted with flight travel so Mila can come on road trips. When she’s around the team, Mila is a crowd favorite.
Mila is everyone’s favorite 🥹 pic.twitter.com/7nydIRwBD2
— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) May 31, 2023
In the past, structures didn’t exist for players to envision futures that involved staying in the game and having a family. Progress has been made: The NWSL’s first collective bargaining agreement introduced eight weeks of paid parental leave. As clubs add new resources and set new standards, Salem has hope for a future in which women can feel encouraged to take on coaching roles and parenthood at the same time.
After last season’s struggles, the Spirit has bounced back to fifth place in the NWSL. In the short term, Salem’s attention remains on the next match, but she aspires to a longer career in coaching.
“I feel grateful to be in this position where I can learn from Mark, who’s one of the best coaches in the league, and be part of a staff who bring so many different strengths,” she said. “I think when I feel more comfortable, yeah, hopefully being a head coach one day in the NWSL would be really awesome. Right now, my focus is on how I can be the best assistant I can be.”