WHAT HAYES SAID
Speaking to about the decision to make the switch, Hayes recalled the moment she spoke to Harry, her five-year-old son, about the possibility of going to the United States. "I asked him, ‘Mummy’s got the chance to go and coach the USA team or we can stay here?’ and his reaction really helped me," she said. "I didn’t know what he was going to say, but he smiled, he hugged me, he kissed me and he said, ‘Let’s go to the USA, mummy, I’m really excited, I want to go to the USA!’ and I almost couldn’t believe it. That was it, that was the endorsement I needed."
Hayes was in a difficult moment at the time U.S. Soccer's interest became known as she had just lost her father. However, she praised the federation for its "support" and said that the role was "impossible to turn down" once they had spoken about how best to make it work.
"Truthfully, I was grieving, and I couldn’t think of anything else. I didn’t have any feeling at that point,” Hayes recalled. "So, I just felt like it was hard to make a life-changing decision, at a time that just didn’t feel right, so reaching that decision with almost a compromise to start at the end of this season was, I think, the only way I could have done it. I really can’t say enough good things about US Soccer and the way they’ve supported that decision and made me feel wanted. They’ve made me feel valued enough that they supported it. Once they agreed to all the things that really mattered to me, it was impossible to turn down."
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Hayes will certainly not be eased into the USWNT role as her first few weeks in the job will be focused on the upcoming Olympic women's football tournament, with the nation aiming to win a record-extending fifth gold medal. With four World Cup titles also to its name, the U.S. has been the biggest side in international women's soccer for a long time now.
"Without doubt, it is a major reason I accepted the job, to go to an Olympics, a World Cup, and be leading out the most established women’s football nation,” Hayes added. "When the time comes, I will give it absolutely everything I’ve got. I know what the Olympics means to America and I’ve been made aware of that from my time living out there."