Emma Hayes: “If You Can’t Change the System… Change It”

Welcome to the Party

Treat Media

Sports

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2026

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Julie, Abby, and Billie Jean King kick things off with the Billie Jean King Cup, the “World Cup of women’s tennis”, and what makes playing for your country hit different, from pressure to pride to full-on chaos in the locker room. Then, U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Emma Hayes joins the party, and this one goes way beyond X’s and O’s. From building a dynasty at Chelsea to winning Olympic gold in her first 10 games with the USWNT, Emma is now focused on something even bigger: completely redefining how women’s soccer is built. She breaks down her “female lens” approach, why 95% of sports science is still based on men, how that impacts everything from injuries to performance, and what it actually takes to design systems that work for women. We get into her groundbreaking approach to supporting athletes through pregnancy, the return of stars like Sophia Wilson and Tierna Davidson, and how she’s building a scalable blueprint that could change the entire future of the women’s game. Plus: the personal side of Emma, balancing motherhood, coaching at the highest level, and why this job isn’t just about winning…it’s about legacy. Follow @welcometothepartyshow on: YouTube — @welcometothepartyshow Instagram — @welcometothepartyshow TikTok — @welcometothepartyshow Email — partypeoplequestions@gmail.com Keep the Party Going: More information about the Billie Jean King Cup: https://www.billiejeankingcup.com/en How to watch America in the Billie Jean King Cup: https://www.billiejeankingcup.com/en/more/where-to-watch USWNT Upcoming Friendlies with Japan: https://www.ussoccer.com/all-matches Thank you to our sponsors: -Ally’s got you covered. Ally Bank, Member FDIC -Find a host or co-host at https://www.airbnb.com/host/homes

Transcript

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0:00.0	One day I'm going to work so hard and one day I'm going to be the head coach of the US Women's National Team.
0:06.0	Well if you can't change the system, change the system.
0:09.0	Regardless of whether I'm the coach here or not, that I put the system in place.
0:14.0	I want the next generation and the people behind me to feel like that the women's game and the girls game and the insights around them is by them for them.
0:23.6	No coach has ever been able to do this. You could pull this off.
0:28.6	Attention. The party is about to commence. Oh, welcome to the party.
0:45.1	What's up, party people?
0:46.5	I'm Julie Fowdy.
0:47.6	And I'm Abby Wambach.
0:50.2	And I'm Billy Jean King.
0:52.2	Kinger.
0:53.7	Are you on a delay?
0:55.3	What's up?
0:56.3	I think she's on a delay. I must be because I went as fast, right? You were? It must be delayed then. Yeah. I was like, come on, Kinger. Have a little bit of coffee. What do you want for someone that's a lot older than you guys? Come on. Give me the ball. Give me the ball.
1:10.9	Give me the ball.
1:12.1	Coming up, we have one of my... you guys. Come on. Give me the ball. Give me the ball.
1:17.9	Coming up, we have one of my favorite coaches on this planet, U.S. Women's National Team, head coach Emma Hayes. And we are about a year into her plan to build the game, which is really cool we're going to talk about through this bold, new, female-only lens.
1:34.2	So we're going to talk about what's actually changing, how it's showing up on the field, and we can't wait to check in with Emma.
1:42.1	But first, Kinger.
1:50.0	Yeah. Billy Jean King Cup. Billy Jean King Cup.
1:54.0	Say that 10 times. Yeah, the World Cup of women's tennis. It's like your soccer. Yeah,
1:59.2	this is our World Cup. 148 countries. It starts on Saturday. Let's go. Yeah, seven matches. It's qualifying. We get down to eight teams for the finals in China. Belgium plays the United States. This started in 1963, party people. It's formally called the Fed Cup. I was on the team. Yeah. I was 19 years old. I was so excited. I was a number two player.
	...

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