No other NWSL coach did more at the NSCAA convention than Laura Harvey, she kicked off her week on Thursday January 16th with the NWSL coaching panel hosted by Sky Blue FC coach Jim Gabarra. Harvey and Gabarra were also joined by Aaran Lines of the Western New York Flash, Mark Parsons of the Washington Spirit, and Rory Dames of the Chicago Red Stars.
On Friday Harvey headed to the 2015 NWSL College Draft. Surprisingly, she wasn’t the coach wheeling and dealing during the course of the proceedings and instead left that moniker to fellow Brit Mark Parsons who executed a series of trades that secured him both a second and third round pick in the 2015 draft in addition to the single fourth round pick he had started with.
Harvey came away from the draft with Havana Solaun from Florida, which garnered a loud ‘woop’ from Gators head coach Becky Burleigh who was helping moderate the NWSL live chat. The Reign also selected Kendall Romine from Stanford with the final pick of the draft. In her post draft comments Harvey mentioned she was pleased with her picks and noted she selected players who fit her system, not just those on the Top Drawer top players list.
The next morning she gave the keynote address at the ‘Coaches of Women’s Soccer’ breakfast. Harvey reflected on the challenging 2013 season with Seattle Reign FC as well as the table topping 2014 season with the club.
Later that day Harvey conducted a field session “Building Your Attack from a Deep Position: Emphasizing Opposite Movements Higher Up the Field.” During the session she explained on how coaches can teach their players to be more positionally aware and work on off the ball movement.
This session provided some insight into her set up at the Reign including the team’s signature movement that includes center backs passing the ball laterally before finding a long diagonal pass up through to the midfield.
Harvey’s lecture session, “Teaching Players the Importance of Possession Orientated Play”, an hour later was somewhat of a continuation of the many concepts discussed during her field session. Harvey focused heavily on explaining her approach and thoughts about possession oriented play were explained through anecdotes about Seattle Reign FC.
Ultimately, Harvey explained that the three components essential for possession are height, depth, and width. Within Seattle’s 4-3-3 formation those three factors combined with an ever shifting midfield triangle were central to the team’s success in 2014.
Harvey noted that despite wildly different records, the system the team played in 2013 was nearly identical to the one in 2014. The difference was an upgrade in the players within the system. Having technical players that are able to fit within a possession oriented set up is critical for the system to be successful.
2014 was a banner year for the Seattle Reign head coach. As other teams strengthen their squads through the draft and international signings, it remains to be seen if Harvey can muster a similarly commanding record in the NWSL in 2015. Either way, she has left an indelible mark on the soccer landscape in the US in just the couple of years since her arrival.