Montoya to coach team through end of 2022 season
The Washington Spirit announced this morning that they had selected Albertin Montoya as their Interim Head Coach for the remaining five games of the 2022 season.
Montoya previously served as Head Coach of the the United States Women’s National Under-17s Team from 2011-2012, apparently his most recent experience coaching at a professional level. He also worked with Spirit players Kelley O’Hara and Nicole Barnhart as Head Coach of Women’s Professional Soccer’s (WPS) FC Gold Pride from 2009-2010, an experience that may have contributed to his appointment to the Interim position.
He is currently the Technical Director and Director of Coaching at Mountain View Los Altos youth Soccer Club. Before coaching, Montoya had a brief professional career in MLS and Australia’s A-League.
Mark Krikorian, Spirit’s President of Soccer Operations, spoke warmly of Montoya in the announcement, stating, “He is a wonderful teacher of the game and our players will benefit from his development and leadership.” The selection also received some praise on Twitter, by the likes of UCLA women’s Head Coach Margueritte Aozasa and soccer journalist Charles Boehm.
The man, the myth, the legend. The reason I am the coach and person I am today. Enjoy every minute. https://t.co/SwXoS0InIv
— margueritte aozasa (@margaozasa) September 2, 2022
Albertin Montoya is a good choice for @WashSpirit, esp on short notice. Took me back to when he was coaching the US U-17 WNT, calling up a few DMV kids like Midge Purce and Andi Sullivan:
(Brittany Basinger got drafted, but is now a professional pilot)https://t.co/WjxWG1Mh1a
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) September 2, 2022
The Spirit announced that they were seeking an interim head coach on August 22, when former Head Coach Kris Ward was removed following an incident at training. Assistant Coach Angela Salem led the team for their August 27 match against Houston Dash.
Montoya will make his coaching debut for the Spirit at the September 10 game at Audi Field against San Diego Wave.