A coach can remember exactly what it felt like to need encouragement – and recognize that same moment in a player years later.

That connection runs through the stories of Coach Angela Cornacchio, Coach Leah Greene, Coach Abby Kenkelen, Coach Rachel Watler, and Coach Michaela Bradley, the next five women featured in our Women of New England Surf series.

Their paths into coaching have been anything but identical. From professional soccer in Italy and college championships to overcoming injuries, balancing coaching with playing careers, and returning to coach at the clubs where they once played, each woman brings a different perspective to the sidelines. Together, their experiences reflect the many paths that lead women into coaching and the lessons they carry with them along the way.

Throughout October, we’re getting to know the women coaching at Surf this season and the experiences they carry into their work with our players. Alongside our Breast Cancer Awareness Month initiative supporting Ellie Fund, these stories celebrate the strength and contribution of women within our community.

For these five coaches, finding a place in soccer has become an opportunity to help someone else find theirs.

Coach Angela Cornacchio

After several seasons affected by injury, Coach Angela wondered whether it was time to stop playing. Then, healthy again after finding the right physical therapist, she scored a hat-trick in her league’s opening match.

Her love for soccer began at five, when her best friend invited her to join a team. It carried her through an undefeated Division I National Championship at CCRI and professional soccer with Brescia in Italy. Today, she continues competing in the WPSL and EMWSL.

Along the way, former U.S. Women’s National Team coach Tony DiCicco helped her pursue the opportunity abroad. His willingness to support an individual player stayed with her.

At Surf, she brings that attention to her own players. Having never had a female coach growing up, she wants the girls to have someone they can approach about soccer and life outside it. Those conversations help build the trust she draws on when challenging them on the field.

Away from coaching, Angela writes for a fashion magazine and is working on her second The Player Diaries book. Soccer remains a source of stability through difficult experiences.

“I can genuinely say soccer has saved my life.”

Coach Leah Greene

Coach Leah remembers scoring the winning goal against a rival in a conference final as a freshman at SUNY Geneseo. She finished her college career as an All-American, having reached the NCAA tournament twice.

Today, another kind of moment makes her proud: offering a struggling player encouragement, then watching her return from the field smiling and more confident.

Her parents encouraged her to stay involved after college. A grassroots coaching course during COVID gave her a starting point, and she has continued learning from the coaches around her. At Surf, she values colleagues who share opportunities and encourage her to step outside her comfort zone.

“I hope they learn that they can do whatever it is that they set their mind to and that they don’t have to be just one thing.”

Seeing someone like herself in a leadership role helped Leah imagine what she could do. Now, she hopes to offer her players that same possibility.

Her willingness to try extends beyond soccer, too. Once, she and her friends applied to be movie extras. She almost got the role.

Coach Abby Kenkelen

Coach Abby is still experiencing college soccer while helping younger players discover their own potential. Her interest in understanding the game beyond her role as a player began at an early age.

A senior on the Brandeis women’s team, she played ECNL at FC Delco and won three consecutive state championships with her high school. College brought new demands, and moments of questioning whether her work was paying off.

Those experiences shape the environment she creates at Surf, where players can take risks, make mistakes, and build confidence with support around them.

Her mother offers guidance as she learns to coach. Family and friends help her keep perspective as a player.

“Having people around me who support me regardless of how I play reminds me that there is so much more to who I am than soccer.”

Coaching young girls also reconnects her with why she first loved the game. She wants girls to see leadership as something they can pursue, and boys to grow up respecting women in those roles.

Learning from both sides of a training session gives Coach Abby an understanding of how much encouragement can matter.

Coach Rachel Watler

Coach Rachel’s mother was her first coach. At around four years old, after watching her older siblings from the sidelines, she finally had her turn.

She went on to play at Brandeis University, reaching a goal she had worked toward for years. Her family followed her through home and away games, providing support throughout.

When her college career ended, Rachel missed being around the game and began coaching shortly afterward. Surf offered a familiar connection: she had played for a Surf club in California during high school.

At New England Surf, she has found fellow coaches eager to help her develop. With her players, she wants to build an understanding of success that reaches beyond winning and losing.

“I want them to develop confidence, resilience, respect, and the ability to work as part of a team – all of which translate to off the field.”

Her description of her coaching style is straightforward: supportive, fun, and encouraging. Her players may recognize it more immediately as “Let’s goooo.”

Coach Michaela Bradley

Coach Michaela learned to lead from the back.

A center back in Surf’s State Girls program, she became a vocal organizer of the defensive line. Understanding the game and helping teammates find their positions sparked an interest in coaching.

Today, she coaches the Metro Boston Girls U9 Sky and U14 Girls Sky teams. The club is also where she met friends who remain among her closest.

Her experience as a player helps her understand the girls she now teaches. Watching them apply something from training in a match is a particular reward.

As a younger female coach, she has also faced questions about her ability from opposing coaches and referees. She responds with confidence and speaks openly with her players about pursuing their goals despite other people’s doubts.

“It is important for me to have my players see me come to training and games with a smile on my face and bring a positive, fun environment for them.”

The community she valued as a Surf player is now one she helps create for others. Her teams hear that belief in a familiar phrase: “We win as a team.”

Their experience, our next generation

These coaches know what encouragement can make possible because they have received it, needed it, and learned to offer it themselves.

At Surf, their experiences now help shape the game for younger players – with room to compete, grow, and imagine a future within it.

 

Follow Women of New England Surf throughout October to meet more of our coaches. Alongside the series, our support for Ellie Fund highlights the practical assistance it provides to breast cancer patients and their families during treatment.

Want to make a difference? Scan the QR code below to donate to Ellie Fund and help support patients and their families when they need it most.

Read the first edition on our blog, and follow our social channels to get to know each coach beyond the field.