Beaming with Pride: Orlando's Success Story in the NWSL
The Orlando Pride lift the Championship Trophy (Getty Images)
Few teams can say they had a year as spectacular as Orlando Pride's 2024. With a record-breaking 60 points–the most by any team during an NWSL season–the club culminated its incredible campaign by securing its first championship title. It was the most fitting outcome for a team that has managed to break every expectation, letting go of the ghosts of past failures and resurging as the top contenders.
The path to a trophy was tumultuous for the Florida squad, marked by coaching staff changes, key player departures, and losing records that kept them in a stagnant position at the bottom of the table every year.
However, their destiny started to steer paths once Seb Hines, their current coach, took over. Hines's career with the team began as an assistant coach in 2020, though that season was canceled due to the pandemic. After a year in that role, he became interim coach in 2022 when Amanda Cromwell took an administrative leave, helping the team go up one spot to finish in 7th position. While not an ideal outcome, it was a preface for what was to come: an upward shift in their results. In the 2023 season, they ended in the 5th position, narrowly missing the playoffs but indicating the team's imminent restructure was becoming successful.
Coach Seb holding the trophy (Getty Images)
What makes this resurgence more remarkable, though, is that it didn't imply a complete revamp of their roster, as 77% of the players who just won the championship were also part of the squad in those past unsuccessful seasons; the team only signed Barbra Banda as a high profile newcomer in 2024. While the choice turned out to be the right one, as she ended the season as the second top scorer in the league and later on made the winning goal in the finals, the Pride's success shouldn't be attributed to only one player.
In the end, Coach Hines knew the issue lied within the players' mentality, never doubting their skills and potential. The team had gone through so much in the past years, including five coaching changes in a year.
Hines was the fifth one to take over after Amanda Cromwell was terminated when an investigation uncovered she "engaged in retaliation" against players who spoke up against her "verbal abuse and improper favoritism." When Coach Seb stepped up, he knew his primary challenge.
“One thing that needed to change was the culture.”
The two teamed up with Haley Carter, the VP of soccer operations, to create a safe space worthy of such a stellar team. Whether through team-building activities or by getting rid of the white shorts to avoid players worrying about period stains, the two fostered an environment in which their players could feel seen and heard, restoring their passion for the game in the process.
With such small yet impactful adjustments, the Pride came in with a new vision for their 2024 season, ready to take on the challenge and finally prove to themselves and the league that they were serious contenders. They didn't take long to demonstrate how the changes were successful, as they broke several records along their championship path. Not only did they win the most points (60) by any team in the NWSL's history, but they also became the team with the most wins (18) and most clean sheets (13) in a season. As much as their team efforts were fruitful, they also managed to shine individually.
Marta after winning the championship (Getty Images)
At the End-of-Year NWSL Awards, Seb Hines won Coach of the Year, Emily Sams was Defender of the Year, and five out of eleven players from the Best XI—Sams, Marta, Barbra Banda, Anna Moorhouse, and Kerry Abello—were Pride teammates. And if all these accomplishments weren't enough, this was only the third time (second team) to end the season in first place and win the title.
With such a successful campaign towards a title, the Orlando natives quickly rose to the number one spot in the table and have never left it since. The results were impressive, with the team motivated by a desire to make it all the way. They stayed undefeated at home games and focused their strategy on remaining unscored, proving that defenses can actually win championships. On the offensive end, Marta and Barbra took care of business.
Now, the team is finally celebrating a championship for the first time in their 8 seasons in the NWSL. Throughout the highs and lows, they remained resilient and found their way out of it, guided by the stellar leadership of Hines and Carter but fueled by their belief that what they have is special. Pride is now more than just a name; it is a badge of honor they will carry around to symbolize the true meaning of this inspiring journey.