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Midweek, Bay Collective revealed the appointment of Anja van Ginhoven, England's managerial lead under Sarina Wiegman, as their global women's football operations director. This freshly established collective club ownership initiative, featuring Bay FC of San Francisco as its first club in its portfolio, has previously engaged in hiring individuals from the national football governing body.

The appointment in recent months of Cossington, the prominent previous technical director at the Football Association, as top executive served as a signal of intent from the collective. Cossington understands the women's game inside out and currently has put together a leadership team with profound insight of the history of women's football and filled with professional background.

She marks the third key figure of Wiegman's coaching team to exit this year, with the chief executive leaving before the Euros and assistant coach, Arjan Veurink, leaving to take up the role of head coach of the Netherlands, but her move was made earlier.

Stepping away has been a shock to the system, but “I’d taken my decision to exit the national setup quite a long time ago”, she says. “I had a contract covering four years, similar to Arjan and Sarina had. Upon their extension, I previously indicated I was uncertain whether I would. I was already used to the thought that post-Euros I would no longer be involved with the national team.”

The European Championship was an emotional competition due to that. “I remember very clearly, vividly, discussing with Wiegman in which I informed her about my decision and we then remarked: ‘Our ultimate aspiration, how amazing would it be to clinch the European title?’ In life, dreams don't aspirations are realized every day but, remarkably, it actually happened.”

Wearing a Netherlands-colored shirt, she holds dual affections after her time working in England, where she helped achieve winning back-to-back European titles and was a part of the manager's team for the Netherlands’ triumph at Euro 2017.

“The English side will always hold an emotional connection for me. So, it will be challenging, notably since that the team are due to arrive for national team duty in the near future,” she says. “Whenever the two nations face off, who do I support? Today I have on orange, though tomorrow English white.”

You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. In a small team like this, that is simple to achieve.

The club was not part of the equation as the strategic expert concluded it was time to move on, however the opportunity arose perfectly. The chief executive began assembling the team and their shared values were crucial.

“Virtually from the start we got together we experienced an instant connection,” says Van Ginhoven. “You’re immediately on the same level. Our conversations have been thorough on various topics around how you grow the game and the methods we believe are correct.”

These executives are not the only figures to uproot themselves from high-profile jobs in the European game for an uncharted opportunity in the United States. The Spanish club's technical director for women's football, González, has been introduced as the group's global sporting director.

“I was very attracted to that strong belief in the potential of women's football,” González comments. “I'm familiar with Cossington for a long time; during my tenure at Fifa, she held the technical director role for England, and decisions like this come naturally when you know you are going to be surrounded by people who really inspire you.”

The extensive expertise within their group distinguishes them, explains Van Ginhoven, with Bay Collective among a number new multi-club initiatives that have started over the past few years. “This is a key differentiator for us. Different approaches are acceptable, however we strongly feel in incorporating football expertise,” she adds. “All three of us have traveled a path in women’s football, for most of our lives.”

As outlined on their site, the ambition for the collective is to advocate and innovate a forward-thinking and durable system within female football clubs, founded on effective practices to meet the varied requirements of women in sport. Doing that, with collective agreement, without having to justify actions for specific initiatives, is incredibly freeing.

“I liken it to going from a tanker to a speedboat,” says she. “You're journeying through waters that there are no roadmaps for – as we say in the Netherlands, I'm unsure if it translates well – and it's necessary to trust your personal insight and skills to choose wisely. You can pivot and accelerate rapidly in a speedboat. In a small team like this, it's straightforward to accomplish.”

González adds: “Here, we have a completely white sheet of paper to build upon. For me, our mission is about influencing the game on a wider scale and that blank slate permits you to undertake any direction you choose, following the sport's regulations. This is the appeal of our collective project.”

The aspirations are significant, those in leading roles are expressing sentiments the football community want to hear and it will be interesting to follow the development of Bay Collective, the team and future additions to the group.

To get a sense of future plans, which elements are crucial in a high-performance setting? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve