Stars address personnel changes ahead of Seattle match
By Lesley Ryder
The Chicago Stars have a lot of work to do if they want to climb out of the NWSL’s basement.
On Thursday, Stars FC President Karen Leetzow spoke to the media on the team’s coaching changes, and vacancy at General Manager.
How they go about filling those vacancies will determine how well this new rebuilding phase can stick. “There's a general consensus in the sport, I think, that you hire the GM first, and then they hire a coach that they like,” said Leetzow. But the Stars had already tried that trail in the last year with former GM Richard Feuz recruiting Martin Sjogren and Anders Jacobson. “That did not end up in a good place,” said Leetzow. So how could the Stars find a successful way forward? “I think it's more about involving more people in the process versus it just being left on the sporting and executive side.”
Part of the decision-making process included the return of former head coach Lorne Donaldson. This time, he comes to the club as an interim director of coaching. Leetzow believes in his ability to keep the team’s culture and environment positive. “He's the guy, as the young kids say, who's got the vibe right, and so that's where where we want to be,” Leetzow explained.
The first three seasons under new ownership have brought more changes than originally expected. For a rebuild to stick, there needs to be consistency. “I think what we are trying to do is build a comprehensive plan that covers a multitude of areas within the organization,” explained Leetzow. “As I learn and as we grow, I think we've plugged the vacancies, but we haven't perhaps looked at it as well holistically as we needed to.”
Right now the Stars’ struggle could be hurting their chances of recruiting top talent. After all, no team plans on being in last place. While Karen Leetzow believes the club is better than their place on the table might suggest, but it’s important for the club to figure out what’s gone wrong. “It's a multifaceted problem. But as we think about the future of the club, we want our players to feel feel good about being here. They want to know that we're focused on success.”
New interim coach at the helm
Interim head coach Karina Baez has been with the club as an assistant since 2024. She told media members on the call she felt privileged to have this opportunity in one of the best leagues with the highest standards in the world. “This is my third season. I have lived a lot of emotions here,” Baez said. She’s only been in charge for a few days, but her time with the club as an assistant coach has given her important insights on each player’s potential.
“Now it's time to keep working on the behaviors, on those specific things that we can be more aggressive without the ball, more aggressive with the ball in terms of tactical football,” Baez explained “I really love to see these players and this team developing on a highest level. They deserve that, and I think we can go on that way.”
Stars captain Alyssa Naeher told media members that Baez’s familiarity with the club is helpful as the team navigates their 6th head coaching change in just over a year. “Truthfully, this has been just a very challenging couple years that Karina has been in it with us, and I think that that goes a long way in just kind of building that mutual respect for amongst the players,” the veteran keeper said. “She's been with us every step of the way and she has the full support of the players behind her going into these last three months.”
Still in the fight
Just 12 games remain in the Stars 2026 season and they currently sit 11 points shy of the last playoff spot. While it may not be ideal to change coaches midseason, the timing allows the Stars to keep fighting for the rest of the season.
“I think if anything, let's hit reset right now so that we can try to make a run at this and get some wins and pick up some points. The season's not gone,” said Alyssa Naeher. “We want to go out there and compete and try to pick up some wins.”
No matter what changes have come this week, it’s business as usual on the pitch. “Obviously we found out about the coaching change, and we went up to the field, and we had a training session 30 minutes later,” Naeher said of the personnel switch. “This is the dark side of professional sports when you have to make hard changes and hard decisions.” But Naeher notes the team’s camaraderie, and leadership will help them through the rest of the season. Coaching changes or not, there’s three points up for grabs in Seattle. If the Stars want a shot at a late sprint for playoff position, they’ll have to start with a win in Seattle tomorrow.
Quotent Quoteables
- Karen Leetzow on Nicole Lukic’s hire:
“We're looking for something very specific, particularly with the coaching staff we had was a focus on individual player development, where there was sort of a lack of focus on that within our club and Nicole's experience in USSF, along with her coaching experience.”
- On progress at the team’s new training center announced earlier this year:
“We've had some hiccups out at the location that we were focused on. We have we had a burglary, for lack of a better term, where the interior of the facility was gutted. It was not owned by us at the time, so it required a significant renegotiation with the seller on purchase price. We just completed that. We closed on the property last Friday, and we are back on track. That said, we probably lost a few months with respect to being able to deliver that on time.