Interim head coach Ella Masar takes the helm
By Lesley Ryder
The Chicago Stars arrived at the midseason break in 13th place on the league table, with just one win on the season. On July 1st, the Stars announced interim head coach Masaki Hemmi was leaving the club to pursue other opportunities. Veteran assistant Ella Masar was named the interim head coach for the second time in her Stars FC tenure. On Thursday, Masar met with the media for the first time in a joint pre-match press conference with team veteran Shea Groom.
“It was a no-brainer,” Masar described her immediate reaction to the news of her hiring. “It's an honor always to step up… I'm loyal to Chicago. I played here. I believe in Laura Ricketts, and I believe in what we're trying to build.”
The extended summer break has allowed the team to reset after a difficult run of results in the first half. Players and coaches alike had the opportunity to examine the best and the worst of their first thirteen matches. Masar’s emphasized simplicity in her approach. “All we've tried to do is just literally tighten things up defensively. Tighten things up transition—tighten things up, but don't take away why we are great. We score great goals on transition, and we're starting to play and to keep that structure, and we're just trying to continue to grow.”
The players are already noticing changes to their day-to-day. “I really do think Ella's brought a lot of structure for us. I think we craved that a little bit, and kind of just needed someone to enforce it,” said Shea Groom. “And think Ella, coming obviously from a play playing background, and having been in our shoes, like there's not really much you can say to her, because she knows, she knows what we've been through.”
Ain’t over yet
As the Chicago Stars get ready to play their first game in nearly a month, they’re holding fast to the belief they have in each other to get results. “I feel especially in the last four or five games leading up to the break, we could have easily had different results. We could have had three, four wins there, and we just didn't,” said Groom. “I think the unique part about the NWSL is you're really not out until you're out.”
Groom applauds the resilience of her teammates. “It's obviously hard to go through any coaching change, much less like multiple but I think this group has done incredibly well with it… It's hard to describe to anybody else, because only [we] really know about it, and everybody that's been here has been bought in. I think the players quickly realized we are the consistent—we are the constant, and we make this what it is.”
Masar is charging the players with the task of creating a mission statement. “They're going to come up with their own identity, and then it's my job to hold them accountable to that identity. And sometimes that's not easy as a coach, but it makes my job easier because they've set the precedent.”
Groom offered a small preview of what’s to come as they continue to shape their identity. “We want to be the team, especially with the situation that we're in that never quits, like you're not going to see people walking or giving up on a play, like we really want to have that blue collar, ‘Never Say Die’ attitude”
“Everybody has something to earn.”
The Teal Rising Cup allows the Stars to test the work they’ve put in the last couple of weeks in training, and turn it into an opportunity to win a trophy. “Everybody's going to get some minutes. They're all fighting for that game in Gotham, and that's been the message and the precedent we're setting. Everybody has something to earn.”
Ella Masar has another charge for her team in this week’s tournament “I want us to find the joy. We want empowerment. We want you guys to see after these games, oh, that's Chicago.”
Fans can find the Teal Rising Cup on ESPN+. The games will be broadcast as doubleheaders. Chicago will kickoff the tournament against Corinthians SC at 4:30 PM CT, followed by the KC Current against Palmeiras at 8PM CT. The winners from both matches will play at 8PM CT on Tuesday, July 15, preceded by the third place match at 5PM CT.