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Midweek, the Bay Collective group disclosed the appointment of Van Ginhoven, the English national team's managerial lead working with head coach Sarina Wiegman, as their director of global women’s football operations. This new multi-club ownership body, which includes Bay FC of San Francisco as the initial addition within its group, has a history in bringing in talent from the English FA.

The selection in recent months of Kay Cossington, the prominent former FA technical director, as top executive acted as a clear statement from the collective. Cossington is deeply familiar with the women's game thoroughly and now has gathered an executive team with a deep understanding of the history of women's football and filled with professional background.

She marks the third key figure of Wiegman's coaching team to depart in the current year, with the chief executive departing before the Euros and assistant coach, Arjan Veurink, leaving to take up the role of manager of the Netherlands, but her move arrived more quickly.

Leaving was a shock to the system, but “I’d taken my decision to depart the Football Association quite a long time ago”, Van Ginhoven states. “My agreement covering four years, exactly like Arjan and Sarina had. As they re-signed, I had expressed I wasn't sure if I would do the same. I had accepted the whole idea that post-Euros I wouldn’t be part of England any more.”

The tournament was a sentimental competition as a result. “I remember very clearly, vividly, having a conversation with the head coach where I basically told her about my decision and we then remarked: ‘Our ultimate aspiration, how amazing would it be if we were to win the European Championship?’ In reality, dreams don't aspirations are realized often however, absolutely incredibly, ours came true.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, she experiences split allegiances following her stint with the English team, during which she contributed to securing consecutive European championships and served on Wiegman’s staff during the Dutch victory at Euro 2017.

“The English side retains an emotional connection for me. So, it will be difficult, particularly now knowing that the squad are due to arrive for the international camp in the near future,” she comments. “When England plays the Netherlands, who do I support? Today I have on orange, but tomorrow I'll be in white.”

You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. In a small team like this, that’s easily done.

The club was not part of the equation as the organisational wizard determined that it was time for a change, however the pieces fell into place perfectly. Cossington started to bring people in and their shared values were crucial.

“Essentially upon meeting we connected we had that click moment,” remarks she. “We were instantly aligned. Our conversations have been thorough regarding multiple aspects around how you grow the game and the methods we believe are correct.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are not alone to uproot themselves from well-known positions within European football for an uncharted opportunity across the Atlantic. The Spanish club's women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been introduced as the group's new global sporting director.

“I was very attracted by the firm conviction of the power within the female sport,” she says. “I'm familiar with Cossington for an extended period; back when I was with Fifa, she served as England's technical director, and it’s easy to make these decisions when you know you are going to be surrounded by individuals who motivate you.”

The extensive expertise within their group makes them unique, says she, with Bay Collective among a number recent multi-team projects to launch in recent years. “It's a standout feature of our approach. Different approaches are acceptable, however we strongly feel in having that football knowledge on board,” she states. “Each of us have traveled a path in women’s football, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the ambition for the collective is to support and lead an advanced and lasting environment within female football clubs, founded on effective practices to meet the varied requirements of women. Succeeding in this, with unified understanding, eliminating the need for persuasion regarding certain decisions, is hugely liberating.

“I liken it to transitioning from a tanker to a speedboat,” states she. “You're journeying in uncharted waters – a common Dutch expression, I'm unsure if it translates well – and you must depend on your personal insight and skills for making correct choices. You can pivot and accelerate rapidly with a speedboat. In a small team like this, that is simple to achieve.”

González notes: “With this opportunity, we begin with a clean canvas to work from. Personally, our mission focuses on impacting football more extensively and that blank slate allows you to do whatever you want, adhering to football's guidelines. This is the appeal of what we are building together.”

Their goals are lofty, the management are saying the things athletes and supporters hope to hear and it will be interesting to follow the development of Bay Collective, the team and other teams that may join.

As a preview of upcoming developments, what factors are essential of a high-performance environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve