The Gotham FC Queens Coaching Council
Bringing voices together to shape what’s next for women coaches in Queens, and beyond.
Gotham FC’s Queens Coaching Council is a first-of-its-kind community council bringing together coaches, soccer leaders, and community voices over five months to shape a new initiative that will directly support female soccer coaches in Queens.
As Gotham prepares to make Queens its future home, the Council reflects the club’s early commitment to listening to, investing in and building alongside the community to create programs that respond to local needs and opportunities.
MEET THE COUNCIL
Amy Chui
Amy Chui grew up playing soccer and now coaches young people across Queens through the City Parks Foundation. She is particularly proud of her work with Nike Girls Forward, which encourages teenage girls to participate in sports. In summer 2026, Amy was selected as City Parks Foundation’s Young Leader for Festival 26, an international soccer festival in Boston. She brings firsthand experience coaching girls in Queens and a perspective on what helps emerging coaches grow.
Emily Campos
Emily brings a New York City youth-development, community partnership and public-service lens to the council. As Deputy Director of Partnerships and Program Analysis on NYC DYCD’s Sports and Wellness team, she helps oversee citywide sports programming, partnerships and provider support. A former player and coach, Emily has spent more than a decade expanding inclusive opportunities for girls and young women across soccer and other sports. Now living in Queens, she also serves on the Aspen Institute’s National Soccer Advisory Board and brings a whole-child approach centered on confidence, belonging, leadership and community connection.
Nadia Caballero Diaz
A Queens-rooted coach and former Spanish first-division player, Nadia played for CD Hispalis and Sevilla FC before earning her U.S. Soccer B License and United Soccer Coaches Director of Coaching Diploma. Active in the Queens soccer community since 2016, she has served as Technical Director at Woodhaven FC and DV7 Academy NY, led Queensboro FC in the USL W League and organized community programs with the Hispanic Federation and Council Member Francisco Moya. She currently serves as Zone 3 Technical Director at Downtown United Soccer Club.
Nora Dooley
Nora brings a national and global perspective on how to use soccer to strengthen communities. After beginning her career with Grassroot Soccer in South Africa, she spent more than a decade supporting community-based organizations through coach education, curriculum innovation and organizational development, including work that centers girls and women. Following leadership roles with Coaches Across Continents and Soccer Without Borders, Nora joined U.S. Soccer and the Soccer Forward Foundation in 2025 to help expand access to equity-centered soccer programming.
Sue Ryan
Sue Ryan is an assistant professor at Stony Brook University and directs its Advanced Graduate Certificate in Sports Coaching, where she teaches coaching education and leadership. A U.S. Soccer coach educator and Director of Coaching for Eastern New York Girls South ODP, Sue has worked across state, regional and national ODP programs since 1986. She led Stony Brook women’s soccer from Division III to a perennial Division I contender and has coached youth girls on Long Island since 1985. Her career reflects a longstanding commitment to coaching as education and to developing players, coaches and leaders.
Ximena Linton
Ximena Linton is a former NY Magic Reserves player and longtime New York City coach. One of the first female coaches in the city’s CJSL and EDP travel leagues, she broke barriers in a traditionally male-dominated environment and built trust through hard work, dedication and consistent results. As Director of the City Parks Foundation Soccer Program, Ximena is expanding access through its All Girls Program so more girls can experience soccer’s physical, social and emotional benefits.
Yanique Newman
Yanique Newman is the Founder and Director of Unique Ballers FC and Head Coach of the women’s soccer program at the City College of New York. Her experience spans grassroots youth development through the collegiate level, with a focus on inclusive, community-based programming that removes barriers for female athletes. Across both programs, she prioritizes positive team culture, player leadership, confidence, creativity and long-term growth. A Brooklyn-based coach and community leader and City College of New York Athletics Hall of Famer, she brings a deep commitment to helping girls see themselves as leaders. Yanique is also a graduate of Gotham FC’s Keep Her in the Game program, and will help serve as a bridge across programs.
Yasmine Sanchez
Born and raised in New York City and now living in Queens, Yasmine Sanchez has coached with NYCFC’s City in the Community, Uptown Soccer, DUSC, DSL and other programs—all before age 23. She also created a free soccer program connecting hundreds of New York City youth with opportunities to build wellness, teamwork, communication and leadership. Her community impact earned her ESPN’s Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award. Yasmine has earned a U.S. Soccer C License, and will bring the perspective of an emerging leader in this space.
GOTHAM FC REPRESENTATIVES
Gotham leaders and facilitators will participate alongside council members to listen, share the club’s perspective and help turn what the group learns into a new initiative.
Tory Faries
Principal, Charter Oak Impact
Tory is a social impact strategist passionate about leveraging women's sports as a force for good. She’s been embedded in Gotham FC’s impact team since 2023 as a Principal from Charter Oak Impact. Her experience spans across the global women’s soccer ecosystem via the FIFA Player Impact Programme and NWSL. Tory is in her second year coaching her daughter’s recreation team (go Blue Boba Cats!), bringing an additional early grassroots perspective. Tory will help facilitate the group and translate insights into a focused, outcomes-driven initiative.
Yael Averbuch West
President of Soccer Operations, Gotham FC
A former U.S. Women’s National Team and professional player, Yael brings experience from nearly every level of the women’s game. She helped found the NWSL Players Association, launched the Techne Futbol training platform and has led Gotham’s soccer operations since 2021, helping guide the club to NWSL championships in 2023 and 2025. She will connect the council’s learning to Gotham’s soccer expertise, executive leadership and long-term vision.
Corinne Counsell
Senior Manager, Community & Impact, Gotham FC
Corinne leads Gotham’s community and social impact work, developing programs that use the club’s platform to expand youth access to soccer and advance women and girls. Her work includes helping build Keep Her in the Game, presented by Dove, Gotham’s signature initiative supporting girls during a critical age for staying in sport. With experience spanning partnership marketing, community engagement and sport for social change, she will connect the council to Gotham’s broader impact strategy and community relationships.
Brian Walsh
Head of Youth Soccer, Gotham FC
Brian brings extensive experience as a player, coach and youth soccer executive. Before joining Gotham, he spent eight years at New York City FC, where he led youth soccer development and strategy and worked across community programs, coach development and elite academy pathways. A former collegiate player and longtime coach, Brian will help the council understand the regional soccer ecosystem and translate its learning into a practical initiative that supports coaches and the players they serve.
The Council builds on Gotham’s work through Keep Her in the Game, presented by Dove, which equips youth coaches with tools to create more supportive environments that help girls stay in soccer. Together, these efforts sit at the intersection of two commitments at the heart of Gotham’s social impact strategy: advancing women and expanding girls’ access to the game.
Gotham FC is proud of the women who lead across the club and recognizes the importance of continuing to learn from and support women coaches at every level of the game. As the Council helps shape an initiative to directly support women coaches in Queens, Gotham will also consider how the Council’s learnings can inform its work and approach more broadly.