U.S. Soccer, Jill Ellis announce coach mentorship program

Jill Ellis never left soccer, she just shifted focus.

The two-time World Cupwinning coach with the U.S. national team has turned her attention to making sure other women can pursue coaching careers in a sport where female coaches are rare.

After Ellis stepped down as coach of the national team last year, U.S. soccer announced it would endow an annual scholarship in her name to support female candidates pursuing elite coaching licenses.

On Tuesday, U.S. Soccer also announced the SheChampions Mentorship Program, designed to support women in the two top licensing courses.

Ellis said the idea is to create a community. “As I look back on my journey, every female coach has gone it alone, so to speak. There’s been very few opportunities to be in a room, or be on a coaching license course, with other women,” Ellis said. “So I think that the idea of this mentoring program is to create a network that naturally exists for guys — because there’s a lot more of them. It’s trying to now provide not just mentorship, but create opportunities.”

Ellis is among those who will mentor the women in the program. Others include longtime North Carolina and former national team coach Anson Dorrance and Laura Harvey, former National Women’s Soccer League coach and current youth national team coach.

The idea is to double the number of professional female coaches at the elite level in the United States. Currently, there are only about 50 women with “A” and “Pro” level licenses.

The U.S. national team is an outlier internationally when it comes to female coaches, with three high-profile women serving in the role since the team was found