Veteran international coach to replace Waldrum
Vera Pauw, a Dutch coach with extensive experience on the international level, will be named the next coach of the Dash on Tuesday.
Pauw, 54, last coached the South Africa women’s national team from March 2014 through August 2016. She resigned following the Summer Olympics. Later that year, she was one of 10 short list candidates for FIFA’s Best Women’s Coach of 2016. She replaces Randy Waldrum, the team’s original coach who parted with the club in May.
Pauw is a long way from South Africa and her native Netherlands, but she said she views the Dash coaching position as a great opportunity.
“I see a team with huge potential in a club that wants to grow,” Pauw said. “What I saw from the footage of the team is that it is a challenging opportunity.”
Dynamo and Dash president Chris Canetti was attracted to the idea of hiring Pauw after several people suggested her, including longtime University of North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance.
Canetti emailed Pauw, and the process began. Several reasons extended his search, including the fact Pauw was in contention for another, but undisclosed, national team job.
“We wanted to be very thorough because we know how important it is to get this (Dash coaching) situation straightened out,” Canetti said. “She has a tremendous resume, track record and awesome experience. She’s a student of the game and very detailoriented. “She will be able to quickly make an impact and substantially change the culture and help our players develop.”
Pauw earned 89 international caps as a defender with the Netherlands. She was the first Dutch player to play professionally in Italy in 1988.
Ten years later, Pauw was appointed as coach and technical director of the Scotland national team. She stayed with Scotland until 2004, when she was named to the same position with the Netherlands national team. She led the Dutch to the semifinals of the 2009 European Championships.
Pauw served as interim coach of Russia’s national team for three months in 2011. At every stop, Pauw has prided herself on developing players.
“I work for players everywhere I go,” she said. “The choices I make are based on whether I see challenges to get players to another level. … What I like about the Dash is that there is a lot of individual potential.”
The Dash have finished eighth out of 10 in twostraight seasons. The closest they came to qualifying for the postseason was in 2015, when they were six points from the last qualifying spot.
Canetti said Pauw is the person to get the Dash over the hump.
“Lots of people believe we have a lot of talent on this team,” Canetti said. “It is just a matter of tweaking everything a little bit, from the roster to the way we train to the tactics to the environment to how we do things off the field to how we interact with one another. I expect that she’ll have a big impact on that right away.”