U.S. NATIONAL TEAM TRAINING CENTER (Fayetteville, Ga.) – The epiphany came to Emma Hayes about a decade ago.
She was well into her coaching tenure at Chelsea and her team had just lost to rival Arsenal, 1-0, in the 2016 FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
When Hayes talks about this moment, she explains the Gunners deserved to win that game. What she couldn’t see at the time – but very clearly understands now – is why her players were so off that day. Their reaction times were slower than normal and their coordination was like “watching a group of people that looked separated from their bodies,” Hayes recently told a small group of reporters at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center near Atlanta.
“I remember in the middle of the game thinking, ‘What’s wrong with them?’” Hayes continued. “‘Is it their nerves?’”
Emma Hayes and the U.S. women’s national team. (Photo by Georgia Soares/USSF/Getty Images)
Hayes later learned her players were at different points in their menstrual cycles and that, in some cases, those hormonal fluctuations were affecting their performance. She was at a loss. “Why don’t I know these things?” she asked herself.
Brain fog, fluid retention, inflammation, cramping, pelvic floor issues – these are things women know all too well. This caused Hayes to think about her own body – she’s been open about her endometriosis diagnosis – and how little she really knew. In her players’ case, they were navigating this while trying to compete at the highest level.
“We’re asking players to perform in a culture that says, ‘Oh, you’ve got a period? Sit out,’” Hayes said. “I was like, ‘It’s not good enough. We don’t want to sit out.”
Since then, Hayes has made it her life’s work to normalize conversations around women’s health and transform what was once treated as a taboo topic into a superpower.
Through her own research, she discovered there is no degree devoted solely on female physiology. If she wanted to truly understand women’s bodies, she would have to build that education herself – seeking out scientists, former players, coaches and other like-minded people who were asking the same questions.
So she did.
The result is an entire ecosystem – first at Chelsea and now as the U.S. women’s national team manager – created around putting the female lens “at the heart of everything we do.”
Part of the end goal is that this contributes to developing a team to win. The Americans are preparing for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil and then the Olympics on home soil in 2028. The squad is currently in the middle of an international window – they fell to Spain 2-0 in a friendly on Saturday and will face the defending World Cup champions again on Tuesday – before turning focus to qualifying for next summer’s tournament in November.
Emma Hayes led the USA to Olympic gold in 2024. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI/Getty Images).
A fundamental part of Hayes’ methodology is the recognition that women and men have distinct needs, from nutrition, sleep and recovery to uniforms and even the placement of scales outside the locker room. Her staff has examined data revealing differences in how male and female players cross the ball into the box and how much space goalkeepers take up within it. What works for men doesn’t necessarily work for women, and building a better blueprint starts with understanding those differences.
“I think so much of the women’s game has just been dominated by what we know to be true of male players instead of, hang on a second, these are completely different athletes,” said Coffey, who was part of the squad that won Olympic gold two years ago.
“And that’s not a weakness or a disadvantage. It’s just, how do we best serve us instead of how do you get the best out of men. Because we’re not men.”
The U.S. women’s national team ahead of a match against Spain. (Photo by Georgia Soares/USSF/Getty Images)
“She’s always looking for little 1% ways to approach things from a female point of view, down to the temperature of our meeting room,” Coffey said, noting that it should be 68 degrees because that’s the temperature that women process information most efficiently.
“I’ll be filling my plate for dinner and she’s like, ‘I would get extra anti-inflammatory foods if I were you!’ And I’m like, ‘All I want is chocolate, but OK!’” Coffey said, laughing. “All these little things add up over time and cumulatively make such an impact on how we feel and how we perform.
“They’re detailed down to the T. It’s not just taking an ibuprofen and calling it a day. And I’ve noticed a difference.”
As for how this entire mindset is spreading across the sport, Coffey said she brings back habits from national team camp to Man City – like the “yogurt pot” parfait recipe that Bruinvels has introduced her to.
“In my club and country environments, I do 100% feel like nothing is a hand-me-down,” Coffey said. “It feels tailored to being a female and we’re only going deeper in our understanding of that, which is super cool.”
While Hayes’ strategy may end up giving the Americans a competitive edge – because not every team or federation will have these same resources – all of this information is not something they plan to gatekeep.
“I want every little girl and woman, no matter what your practice is in our sport, to feel like this is more than just playing the game,” Hayes said.
“I think we can impact society in a profound way.”
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