Orlando Pride facts for kids
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| Founded | October 20, 2015 | ||
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| Stadium | Inter&Co Stadium Orlando, Florida |
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| Stadium capacity |
25,500 | ||
| Majority owners | Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf | ||
| Chairman | Mark Wilf | ||
| Head coach | Seb Hines | ||
| League | National Women's Soccer League | ||
| 2024 | Regular season: 1st of 14 Playoffs: Champions |
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The Orlando Pride is an American professional soccer team. They are based in Orlando, Florida. The team plays in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). This is the top women's professional soccer league in the United States.
The Pride started playing in the 2016 season. They were the tenth team to join the league. Their home games are played at Inter&Co Stadium in downtown Orlando. The team shares its owners with Orlando City SC, a men's soccer team. In the 2024 season, the Pride won their first major titles. They claimed both the NWSL Shield (for finishing first in the regular season) and the NWSL Championship (for winning the playoffs).
Contents
History of the Orlando Pride
Starting the Team (2015-2018)
After the 2015 NWSL season, there were talks that Orlando City SC might add a women's team. On October 20, 2015, the team's name, logo, and colors were revealed. Tom Sermanni, a coach for the Australian and U.S. national teams, became the Pride's first head coach.
Soon after, the Pride signed their first players. These included star forward Alex Morgan and Kaylyn Kyle from Portland Thorns FC. They also got Sarah Hagen from FC Kansas City. In their first season in 2016, they finished 9th.
For the 2017 season, the Pride added more important players. They traded for defender Ali Krieger. They also signed Marta, a five-time FIFA World Player of the Year from Brazil. Alex Morgan also joined the team fully after a loan. Marta scored 13 goals and Morgan scored 9. These players helped the team's offense a lot. The Pride made the playoffs for the first time, finishing 3rd. However, they lost 4–1 to Portland Thorns FC in the semi-final.
To make their defense stronger in 2018, the Pride signed Shelina Zadorsky, Carson Pickett, and Poliana. They also added attackers like Sydney Leroux and midfielders Christine Nairn and Emily van Egmond. Despite these new players, the team struggled because key players were often unavailable. The Pride finished 7th in the 2018 season and missed the playoffs. Coach Tom Sermanni left the team after three seasons.
Changes and Challenges (2019-2022)
New Coaches and Difficult Seasons (2019-2021)
In January 2019, Marc Skinner became the Pride's second head coach. He came from a team in England.
In May 2019, plans were announced for a new training facility. This would be the first training center in the NWSL made just for a women's team.
The 2019 season was tough. Many key players were away playing in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. This included Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, Marta, and others. The new coach also tried to change the team's playing style. These things led to a difficult season. The team finished last, giving up a league record 53 goals in 24 games.
To fix their defense, the Pride traded for defender Emily Sonnett in 2020. They also signed experienced players like Ali Riley and Jade Moore. Many players left the team, showing they wanted to rebuild the roster.
The start of the 2020 season was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The NWSL held a special tournament called the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. But the Orlando Pride had to pull out because some players and staff got COVID-19. They only played in the 2020 Fall Series, which had fewer games. Many veteran players went to play overseas, so the team had a lot of new faces.
Before the 2021 season, the Pride continued to rebuild. They hired Ian Fleming as general manager. They also brought in Amanda Duffy as their first executive vice president. More players were traded or left, and new defenders and midfielders joined. The team started the 2021 season with a seven-game unbeaten streak.
On July 21, 2021, the Wilf family, who own the Minnesota Vikings NFL team, bought the Orlando Pride.
On July 23, 2021, coach Marc Skinner left to coach Manchester United W.F.C.. Assistant coach Carl Green was interim for one game. Then, Becky Burleigh became the interim coach for the rest of the season. The Pride finished 8th and missed the playoffs.
New Leadership and Progress (2022-2023)
On December 7, 2021, Amanda Cromwell became the new head coach. Former USWNT player Michelle Akers joined as an assistant. Many key players like Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, and Alex Morgan were traded to other teams. The Pride brought in new players like Angharad James, Celia, and Megan Oyster. Early in the 2022 season, the team's defense improved. However, star player Marta got a serious knee injury, which affected the team.
On June 7, 2022, Cromwell and assistant coach Sam Greene were put on leave due to workplace conduct issues. Assistant coach Seb Hines became the interim head coach. He was the first Black coach in the NWSL. Hines led the team for the rest of the season, and they had a seven-game unbeaten streak. On October 10, 2022, Cromwell and Greene were officially let go. The Pride finished 10th in 2022.
The Pride officially made Seb Hines their permanent head coach on November 11, 2022.
Recent Success (2023-Present)
In 2023, the team's owners invested more in the Orlando Pride. On January 30, 2023, Haley Carter was hired as general manager. This showed a new focus on player well-being.
The Pride's 2023 season started slowly with four losses. But new players like Adriana and Julie Doyle helped the offense. A stronger defense, led by Kylie Strom, Emily Madril, Rafaelle, and goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, made the team much better. They finished 7th, just missing the playoffs. It was one of their best seasons yet, with more home wins and fewer goals given up.
The Pride then made important new signings, including Zambian forward Barbra Banda. On October 6, 2024, the Orlando Pride won their first trophy, the NWSL Shield. They did this with three games left in the season. They were unbeaten for 24 regular-season matches, a streak that started in October 2023. This streak ended on October 11 against Portland Thorns. On November 23, the Orlando Pride defeated Washington Spirit in the NWSL playoffs final. This win gave them their first league title. The Orlando Pride became the first team from Orlando to win a major championship.
Team Name, Logo, and Colors
The name Orlando Pride was announced on October 20, 2015. The team's founder, Phil Rawlins, said the name shows how people feel about Orlando. It also connects to the "Lions family" of Orlando City SC. A group of lions is called a "pride," and most of the group are female lions (lionesses). The team's colors are purple and light blue. The team's logo shows a picture of the Linton E. Allen Memorial Fountain at Lake Eola Park.
Uniforms
Home Uniforms
       2016
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    2017–2018
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   2019–2020
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 2021–2022
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 2023
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 2024
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    2025–
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Away Uniforms
   2016
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   2017
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 2018–2019
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   2020–2021
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 2022–2023
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   2024–
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Home Stadium
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The Orlando Pride plays its home games at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida. This stadium opened for the 2017 NWSL season. It can hold 25,500 fans. Before this, the team played the 2016 season at Camping World Stadium.
On April 23, 2016, the Pride set a new NWSL attendance record. A crowd of 23,403 fans watched their first home game. They won 3–1 against the Houston Dash at Camping World Stadium. This record stood for over three years.
Team Players
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Current Roster
Note: Flags show the national team a player plays for. Players can have more than one nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
GK | Anna Moorhouse |
| 2 |  |
DF | Haley McCutcheon |
| 3 | |
DF | Kylie Nadaner |
| 4 |  |
DF | Rafaelle Souza |
| 6 | |
DF | Emily Sams |
| 8 | |
MF | Luana |
| 9 |  |
FW | Prisca Chilufya |
| 10 | |
FW | Marta (captain) |
| 11 | |
FW | Ally Watt |
| 12 | |
DF | Cori Dyke |
| 14 | |
MF | Viviana Villacorta |
| 15 | |
MF | Angelina |
| 16 | |
MF | Morgan Gautrat |
| 18 | |
FW | Simone Charley |
| 19 | |
DF | Carson Pickett |
| 20 | |
FW | Julie Doyle |
| 21 |  |
DF | Oihane Hernández |
| 22 | |
FW | Barbra Banda |
| 23 | |
MF | Grace Chanda |
| 25 | |
DF | Kerry Abello |
| 28 | |
FW | Summer Yates |
| 30 | |
MF | Ally Lemos |
| 34 |  |
DF | Zara Chavoshi |
| 35 | |
FW | Simone Jackson |
| 40 | |
GK | McKinley Crone |
Players on Loan
These players are currently playing for other teams for a short time.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 |  |
FW | Mariana Larroquette (on loan to Lexington SC until November 22, 2025) |
| 29 | |
FW | Amanda Allen (on loan at Halifax Tides FC until November 22, 2025) |
| 32 | |
DF | Brianna Martinez (on loan at Carolina Ascent FC until November 22, 2025) |
| 33 | |
MF | Aryssa Mahrt (on loan at Spokane Zephyr FC until November 22, 2025) |
| 36 | |
GK | Kat Asman (on loan to Lexington SC until November 22, 2025) |
Team Staff
| Executive Staff | |
|---|---|
| Chair | Mark Wilf |
| Vice-chair | Zygi Wilf |
| Vice-chair | Leonard Wilf |
| General manager | Haley Carter |
| Coaching Staff | |
| Head coach | Seb Hines |
| Assistant coach |  Giles Barnes |
| Assistant coach |  Yolanda Thomas |
| Goalkeeper coach | Paul Crichton |
| Director of medical & performance | Cory Price |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Christi Edson |
Team Honors
- NWSL Championship
- Winners (1): 2024
- NWSL Shield
- Winners (1): 2024
Team Records
Year-by-Year Performance
| Season | NWSL Regular Season | Position | Playoffs | Summer Cup |
Challenge Cup |
Top Scorer | Avg. Attendance | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Player | Goals | ||||||
| 2016 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 20 | 30 | 19 | 9th | Did Not Qualify | Not Held | Not Held | Kristen Edmonds |
6 | 8,785 |
| 2017 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 31 | 40 | 3rd | Semi-Finals | Marta |
13 | 6,186 | ||
| 2018 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 30 | 36 | 30 | 7th | Did Not Qualify | Sydney Leroux |
6 | 4,837 | ||
| 2019 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 24 | 53 | 16 | 9th | Did Not Qualify | Marta |
6 | 5,565 | ||
| 2020 | NWSL season not fully played | Did Not Play | Marisa Viggiano |
2 | N/A | |||||||||
| 2021 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 32 | 28 | 8th | Did Not Qualify | Group Stage | Sydney Leroux |
9 | 4,227 | |
| 2022 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 45 | 22 | 10th | Did Not Qualify | Group Stage | Darian Jenkins Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir |
4 | 4,385 | |
| 2023 | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 27 | 28 | 31 | 7th | Did Not Qualify | Group Stage | Messiah Bright |
7 | 5,504 | |
| 2024 | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 46 | 20 | 60 | 1st | Winners | Group Stage | Did Not Qualify | Barbra Banda |
17 | 8,340 |
Head Coaches Over Time
This table shows the coaches of the Orlando Pride and their records in competitive matches.
| Name | Nationality | From | To | Games Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals For | Goals Against | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Sermanni |  Scotland |
October 20, 2015 | September 14, 2018 | 69 | 25 | 14 | 30 | 96 | 102 | 36.23 |
| Marc Skinner |  England |
January 14, 2019 | July 23, 2021 | 43 | 9 | 12 | 22 | 46 | 77 | 20.93 |
| Carl Green (interim) | England |
July 23, 2021 | July 24, 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Becky Burleigh (interim) |  United States |
July 25, 2021 | October 30, 2021 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 25.00 |
| Amanda Cromwell | United States |
December 7, 2021 | October 10, 2022 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 15.38 |
| Seb Hines | England |
June 7, 2022 | present | 75 | 34 | 17 | 24 | 103 | 98 | 45.33 |
| Total | 213 | 73 | 50 | 90 | 271 | 324 | 34.27 | |||
How to Watch Games
In 2016, local games were shown on Bright House Sports Network. A game was also streamed live on Alex Morgan's Facebook page. Nearly 500,000 people watched the first half. This was the first professional sports broadcast on Facebook.
For the 2017 season, Orlando Pride games were streamed by Go90 in the U.S. and on the NWSL website for international fans. Lifetime also showed one "NWSL Game of the Week" on Saturdays. The Pride were featured in seven of these national TV games.
In 2019, NWSL games were streamed on Yahoo! Sports in the U.S. International fans could watch for free on the NWSL app and website. Later in 2019, ESPN started showing some games after the U.S. Women's National Team won the World Cup.
For the 2020 season, the NWSL made a deal with CBS Sports and Twitch. Many games were shown on CBS networks and their streaming service. Twitch offered free coverage of some games and was the international partner.
See also
In Spanish: Orlando Pride para niños
- List of top-division football clubs in CONCACAF countries
- List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada
