U.S. women’s national team general manager Kate Markgraf is leaving the role when her contract expires at the end of August, according to multiple reports Friday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Markgraf made the decision to leave before the Women’s World Cup began, per the reports. The Americans lost to Sweden in the round of 16 earlier this month.
- Markgraf, a former USWNT defender who won two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup, took on the team’s first GM role in August 2019.
- The 46-year-old oversaw the head-coaching search that culminated with Vlatko Andonovski succeeding Jill Ellis later that year.
Backstory
Andonovski resigned from his role Wednesday after the Americans’ World Cup exit. It was the earliest the USWNT had ever been knocked out of a World Cup and Andonovski’s decisions throughout the tournament had been called into question.
Assistant coach Twila Kilgore has been named interim head coach while U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker leads the search for a new head coach.
Andonovski and Markgraf’s exits come amid a year of change within U.S. Soccer. Sporting director Earnie Stewart, as well as U.S. men’s national team general manager Brian McBride, departed the federation at the beginning of the year. U.S. Soccer hired Crocker, the former Southampton director of football operations, to replace Stewart in April, and he oversaw the search for the next USMNT coach that ultimately brought Gregg Berhalter back to the team.
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(Photo: John Todd / USSF / Getty Images for USSF)
