Philip Poole, USWNT assistant, named first head coach of Charlotte USL Super League team
Charlotte’s professional women’s soccer team has its head coach.
Philip Poole, a U.S. women’s national team assistant with ties to Charlotte and the Carolinas, has been named the first head coach of Super League Carolina, the Charlotte-based USL Super League franchise whose inaugural season begins in August.
“I’m thrilled to be chosen to lead this new women’s professional soccer franchise and join the USL Super League ahead of its inaugural season,” Poole, who’s lived in Charlotte for 24 years, said in a release. “I look forward to working with our ownership group to expand the women’s game and create more opportunities for exceptional women to compete and work in the game of soccer.
“To support our players, we’re going to bring in a top-tier technical staff, develop a robust athlete care program and create a community of passionate women’s soccer fans across the Carolinas. The climb begins today!”
Poole, who spent time at both the Charlotte Independence and Charlotte Eagles earlier in his career, was executive director of the Lake Norman Soccer Club before a successful period as the elite girls’ director at Charlotte Soccer Academy.
A Wingate University alum, Poole coached the Bulldogs for a year, along with stints at Wake Forest as associate head coach and UNC Charlotte as an assistant. The Newcastle, England, native grew up overseas and came to the United States to play goalkeeper for Wingate, where he was named to its all-decade team.
He first joined the U.S. Soccer ranks in 2012, working as an assistant coach or scout for youth national teams, working his way up to the U-23 level. He joined the USWNT on its technical staff in January 2020 and helped it to qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where it earned the bronze medal, and eventually the 2022 Concacaf W Championship that qualified the team for both the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“To be a good head coach you need to be good at being a leader, be good at teaching, be good at executing — and be a good, caring person,” Super League Carolina Managing Partner, Jim McPhilliamy, said in a release. “Philip and I are united in our view that both the players and the fans deserve a championship-caliber team each season. Philip has all the qualities and the perspective that will make him a great head coach for our team now and in the years to come.”
The USL Super League’s inaugural season begins in August and runs through June 2025. There will be nine teams — Carolina; Dallas; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Lexington, Ky; Phoenix; Spokane, Wash; Tampa, Fla; Tuscon, Ariz; and Washington, D.C. — during the first season, and cities including Chattanooga and Jacksonville are expected to launch franchises in future years.
Poole becomes the league’s second head coach announced, joining Denise Schilte-Brown, who plans to leave University of South Florida after 17 seasons to take the helm of Tampa Bay Sun FC.
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Philip Poole, USWNT assistant, named first head coach of Charlotte USL Super League team."