A New Era for CCNY's Women's Soccer Team

thepaper6
2 days ago
4 min read

By Stella Bolduc

This fall season, CCNY athletics hired a new head coach for the women's soccer team. The team has been through 8 seasons with a male head coach, Louis Manoussos, but this year, CCNY made a change by hiring a female head coach, Yanique Newman. Newman brings many skills and expertise to the women's soccer team, following her impeccable career and experience in coaching. Can she use those skills to lead the women's soccer team into a new era?

The name Yanique Newman might sound familiar to most because she's not only a CCNY alum but also a legend. She was a student athlete at CCNY, playing soccer and earning her bachelor's degree in Psychology. She was named CUNYAC Player of the Year in 2014, as well as ranking 2nd in the NCAA in goals per game. She graduated in the spring of 2015, which then led to her role as assistant coach in the following fall at CCNY for the women's team. In 2019, she was inducted as a CCNY Athletics Hall of Famer for many accomplishments in her seasons, including 3 program records for most goals in a game at 6, in a season at 28, and in a career 56. Yanique Newman’s remarkable experience as a student athlete has informed her later success as a coach. She went on to coach in the most impactful way, founding and directing Unique Ballers Football Club. At Unique Ballers Football Club, their mission is to “increase representation, level the playing field, and nurture girls’ holistic development through soccer.” Newman has continued to improve and work for her company and stated, in a partnership with the U.S. Soccer Foundation, “I wanted to create a space where girls feel safe, seen, and empowered.” This season’s team and success prove that she is doing just that.

The team might be small at 18 players in total, but they are a collection of hard-working and active young women. The women's soccer team only had 9 returning players this semester, which meant they needed to fill their roster for this 2025 fall season. They successfully welcomed 9 new players. The team also has a returning player serving as the new assistant coach, Mackenzie Moreno. Both returning and new players seem to enjoy her coaching style, including Elsa Gashi, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering. About the team, Gashi says, “In the beginning, it was stressful. It was a new place, new people, at college like being freshmen. It was stressful in the beginning, but the teammates, the girls, they're kind and they’re supportive.” She has had all male coaches in the past, so this is a new dynamic for her. “This is my first time with female coaches, it feels different but in a good way,” Gashi shares. Not only do the players get support from the all-female coaching staff, but also from their captains, Sofia Rondon, Lennon Leithauser, and Laila Issa. When asked about the captains, Gashi replied, “They’re captains because they show leadership on and off the field, so I think that they do deserve that role.” Coach Newman made a conscious choice when picking the captains, ensuring that they would be beneficial to the team. She doesn't seem to be focused on the team's statistics but on the team dynamic, making sure the players are working hard and having fun.

The women's team is at 4-8-3 for games. 4 wins, 8 losses, and 3 ties. Although the season doesn't seem to be going very well for the team, this could be the result of transitioning to a new coach and having half the team be new players. The mentality of the team might need some work, as Gashi said, “We still need like a lot of work to do… We need to put in the work, we've got to lock in.” Then, when asked if it's more physical or mental work that needs to be done, she said, “It's mostly mentally, everyone's got this like mental block on the field sometimes.”

The CCNY women's soccer team is going through a season with new coaches and new players. Newman and the players have strong hopes for their season and are putting in the work on and off the field, as they acknowledge where they fall behind. The new coaching staff, including Yanique Newman, Mackenzie Moreno, Leanna Rodriguez, and Gabby Cillibrasi, has been committed and supportive to the players and the team, which welcomes a new era for CCNY’s women's soccer. This might open the gates for more women interested in coaching roles around CCNY, developing a safe space for female athletes.

Stella Bolduc is from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and came to CCNY in the fall of 2023. She is majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. Her main focus in journalism includes sports, literature, music, and culture. She also has a big passion for photography and local artists around Harlem. She hopes to finish up at CCNY and strive for work in publishing or teaching.