Today, we honor our beloved two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup Championship Coach Jill Ellis! Coach Ellis came to us from the United Kingdom. To call her an exceptional professional soccer coach is an understatement. She has an impressive career history to say the least. She is one of Palmetto Bay’s founding women and longtime resident. Coach Ellis coached the United States Women's National Soccer Team from 2014 to October 2019, and won FIFA World Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2019. She is only the second coach to win two World Cups. She also holds the highest margin of victory in one soccer match and the most goals in a single Women’s World Cup match. In October 2019, she stepped down from her post as USWNT’s Head Coach and is currently serving as an ambassador for the United States Soccer Federation, where she works to help increase the number of women in coaching. In addition, Coach Ellis has served as Head Coach for various colleges and US National Youth Teams during her career and has won countless honors, including NSCAA National Coach of the Year in 2000 as Head Coach of the UCLA Bruins and six straight Pacific-10 Conference titles from 2003-2008. Coaching the US Women Youth Teams, she won the Nordic Cup title at the Germany 2000 Under-21 Tournament and the Under-20 CONCACAF Title in 2010. But there's more! Coach Ellis previously served as an assistant coach of a senior team and won a Gold Medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. For all of these reasons, the Palmetto Bay Village Council named the soccer field at Coral Reef Park after Coach Ellis. We feel privileged that Coach Ellis and her wife Betsy Stephenson raise their daughter Lily Stephenson-Ellis right here in Palmetto Bay.
Coach, for your amazing accomplishments, all the happiness and national pride you have brought us, and for all you do, we salute you! Thank you for your leadership worldwide of young women athletes and your dedication to our very own Palmetto Bay!
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