Two former teammates and international stalwarts are left unprotected by their current NWSL teams for the 2017 Expansion Draft, where they are selected by the newly-founded Philadelphia Hearts. Amidst individual trials that seek to isolate them from...
Once all the participants had settled backstage, Wendy stepped to the podium to begin the formal part of tonight's event.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Wendy: Welcome to Hearts United. First I would like to thank the National Constitution Center for allowing us to host our coming-out party here. Next, none of this would have come together but for the efforts and planning of Ali Krieger. Tonight, you will be introduced to the fourteen players we have so far signed to play for the 2018 Philadelphia Hearts, a team that will be returning women's professional soccer to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection after a seven-year hiatus. In addition, we will unveil our team logo and our home and road uniforms. Lastly, the first-ever Hearts of Gold award will be presented to four NWSL and US National Team stars who let their true selves shine before the world a few weeks ago in Orlando and in the process proved that love is a more powerful emotion than hate. My name is Wendy Gebauer Palladino and I am the general manager of the Philadelphia Hearts. Some of you may recognize me from my previous career as a color commentator for women's soccer on ESPN and ABC, but club management has always been a goal of mine. My husband, Bill, recently retired after nearly four decades as the assistant coach for the University of North Carolina women's soccer team, and we both look forward to this next chapter in our lives. With that, I will begin the team introductions.
First up is our head coach. She led Penn State University to an NCAA championship in 2015 and has also been part of the US National Team system, serving under former women's national team coach Pia Sundhage. The first-ever coach of the Philadelphia Hearts, Erica Dambach.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Up next is the team's assistant coach. A Penn State graduate, she amassed 94 caps playing for the Canadian National Team and was instrumental in them securing the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The club's hair goddess, Carm Moscato.
The final member of our coaching staff grew up in Paoli, PA. She graduated from Dartmouth College and played for the Boston Breakers and Carolina Courage in the WUSA and for Sky Blue in WPS before heading to the University of Virginia to complete an MBA. Did I mention she also has an Olympic gold medal to her credit? Our goalkeeping coach, Kristin Luckenbill.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
