Orlando Pride’s historic NWSL Championship shows capability of coach Seb Hines, Black coaches

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the referee blew the final whistle at the National Women’s Soccer League Championship match between the Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit on Saturday and the Pride lifted the trophy the first time in club history with a 1-0 win, it was difficult to know where, exactly, to direct your gaze as the team crashed the field.

Most servants of the game — except, perhaps, those who align themselves with the Spirit — knew to zero in on Orlando Pride forward Marta, the living legend from Brazil long known as a rainha (the queen), but, until that whistle, never a champion. The 38-year-old three-time Olympic silver medalist and all-time leading World Cup goal-scorer fell to her knees and pointed to the sky before disappearing into a dogpile. Marta’s mother had traveled from Brazil to the U.S. for the first time to watch her play. And few would begrudge a focus on forward Barbra Banda, the prolific Zambian striker who scored the Pride’s lone goal that secured their victory.

But near the touchline, Pride head coach Seb Hines, first assistant coach Giles Barnes, and assistant coach Yolanda Thomas embraced, fending off the Kansas City chill and taking in an historic moment of Black excellence. As glitter fluttered to the ground inside the stadium, Hines became the first Black coach to win an NWSL championship, which doubled as the first pro title for Orlando, Florida. He is the first full-time Black coach in the league. (Former Jamaica women’s national team coach Hue Menzies briefly served as the interim coach at New Jersey/New York Gotham FC in 2022.)

“It’s massive,” Hines said of the win in a postgame news conference. “I obviously did my research when I took this job on. I [knew] that Orlando had never won a championship between [MLS’] City, Pride, the Orlando Magic, just to name a few, and so, yeah, I always wanted to have that open [parade] bus through the streets of Orlando.”

Before taking over the Pride, Hines had never been a coach, and yet it took him fewer than three seasons to transform a team that had only had one playoff appearance in seven years into an unstoppable force, and eventually champions. In 2024, the Orlando Pride made NWSL history as the team with the most wins (18), the longest unbeaten streak (23) and longest winning streak (eight) in a season. On Oct. 7, they earned the NWSL Shield, a trophy given to the team with the most points out of 26 games. They had 60 points, the highest in league history.

And he did it with Barnes and Thomas, who are also Black coaches. As Pride players could be heard not far off celebrating with champagne, Hines made clear his intentions to help expand the possibilities for Black managers.

“I want to be that role model for other people to get the opportunity that I got. It’s a big responsibility,” he said. “I’ve fulfilled a lot of joy in this opportunity, and so I just want to continue to be an advocate for more Black coaches and [to] create a more diverse league within the NWSL.”

Hines grew up and began his pro soccer career in England, where he was raised by a white English mother and a Black American father. Orlando has been his home in the U.S. since he played for Orlando City SC in the MLS in 2015. He retired two years later but remained with the club, volunteering at the youth level before moving over to the Pride in 2018, still as a volunteer.

In June 2020, the Pride hired Hines as a full-time assistant coach. Two years later, he was thrust into his first head coaching job when then-manager Amanda Cromwell and another assistant were fired after a league investigation found them to have engaged in retaliatory conduct toward players. Hines was promoted to interim coach June 7 and was confirmed as full-time coach Nov. 11.

“I breed myself on hard work,” he said in a news conference following the announcement. “I wouldn’t have gotten to this position if it wasn’t down to hard work, so I want a team to emulate my values and my beliefs. So what you’ll find next year is a team that’s gonna work hard and fight for every inch in a game, but also have the freedom to play and express themselves and entertain the fans. That’s a really important piece, for the fans to come to a Pride game and be entertained.”

The Pride finished in 10th place out of 12 teams in 2022. In January 2023, Haley Carter, a former player, was named the Pride’s vice president of soccer operations and general manager, and she focused on improving the club’s culture. Powered by Hines’ signings of Barnes as head assistant coach in February 2023 and Thomas as assistant coach in March 2023, the Pride began to build in earnest. Still, they finished 2023 agonizingly short of the playoffs, coming out short on goal differential in the final match of the season.

Hines and the team continued to level up. In March, the Pride signed Banda, arguably their splashiest signing since Marta, a prolific goal scorer who hardly broke a stride when she arrived in the NWSL from China. She racked up 17 goals in 25 regular season games, four goals in three postseason matches, and an NWSL MVP nomination — all in her first season. Marta has spoken at length about how playing alongside Banda sharpened her own game. That offensive partnership, combined with a strong defense that led the league in shutouts, catapulted the Pride to the top of the NWSL for most of the season. By the end of the season, Marta had earned a nomination for Midfielder of the Year, Emily Sams was voted Defender of the Year, and Hines was awarded Coach of the Year.

Pride forward Ally Watt is the team’s representative in the Black Women’s Player Collective, a nonprofit organization aimed at championing Black girls in the sport. She praised Hines’ accomplishments.

“I’m so proud to be part of his history as well,” she said in the postgame mixed zone, tears streaking down her cheeks. “It just makes me proud to be his player because he pushes us every day but he’s also being a trailblazer, inspiring future generations, and he’s very humble about it which also [is] just, like … he’s just a great leader in that way.”

Indeed, Hines exudes a quiet confidence, at least to the media, choosing his words carefully and hewing to his script as a Black English American determined to give back to the Orlando community he fell in love with by winning the city a trophy.

In one season, the Pride have given them two trophies.

“I’m still learning, still growing, I’m a relatively young age as well, and so I just want to continue to grow and learn as much as I can, and, yeah, listen to the players, listen to how they’re feeling,” Hines said, reflecting on the season. “Obviously I have a style of play, a certain way I want this team to look like, but the players have to buy into it, and you can see there’s a real togetherness. They trust me, they trust the coaching staff, and when everyone is aligned with those goals, you can see what we can achieve.”