Speakers & Presenters

• Keynote Speaker: Maya Mendoza-Exstrom +
  

  Chief Business Officer, Seattle Reign FC

  Maya Mendoza-Exstrom is a long-tenured American soccer executive, operating at the intersection of professional sports, civic leadership, and community impact. Entering her third season as Chief Business Officer of Seattle Reign FC in 2026, she oversees all strategy, revenue, business operations, growth, impact, and organizational culture for one of the most storied clubs in the NWSL.

  A Seattle native, Maya previously spent over a decade with Seattle Sounders FC, most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. Prior to joining the Sounders, Maya was in private legal practice. In 2013, she helped found the RAVE Foundation, the official charitable partner for both Seattle Reign FC and Seattle Sounders FC, where she still serves on the board. She also co-chaired Seattle's successful bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and currently serves on the board of the Seattle World Cup Local Organizing Committee.

  A former All-American soccer player, Maya credits the generation of women soccer players in Seattle in the 1980s as her heroes, including the four members of the USWNT from Seattle on the 1991 team. Her impact off the pitch extends into extensive board leadership with several civic and cultural organizations, including the Wing Luke Museum, Seattle Parks Foundation and Seattle Metro Chamber among others. Her work centers on building durable sports organizations, expanding access and equity, and shaping the future of the global game from Seattle.

• Emcee: Kelyn Rowe +
  

  Mr. Pacific Northwest Soccer himself, Kelyn Rowe is a Federal Way native and 12-year MLS veteran with over 250 appearances. Kelyn returned to Seattle in 2021 to play for the club he grew up loving and since his retirement from the club in 2024, has been seen and heard just about everywhere connected with soccer in the Pacific Northwest, playing briefly (ok, one game) with Ballard FC, appearing on podcasts, supporting numerous soccer adventures, and is the Founder/Owner of Vino FC. We're thrilled to have his passion inspiring everyone throughout the symposium all day long!

• Communicating with Today's Athletes (UW Center for Leadership in Athletics; Sam Brown, Associate Director of Coaching Initiatives & Strategy) +

  When coaches communicate effectively, teams perform better, learn faster, and grow together. Communication is the central mechanism coaches use to shape the interscholastic athletic experience and establish a positive team culture.

  In this course, you will learn the importance of strong communication for high-performing teams, reflect on your own communication style and its impact on students, parents, and fellow coaches, learn how to increase engagement and strengthen relationships, and develop practical strategies for everyday coaching interactions that will further enhance your communication skills.

  For more information about the University of Washington's Center for Leadership in Athletics (UW CLA) and coach education offerings, please visit uwcla.uw.edu.

• Culture Shaping for Leaders (Positive Coaching Alliance) +

  PCA's Culture Shaping for Leaders is a highly interactive session that helps organizational and athletic department leadership evaluate and identify ways to make their program(s) more positive, equitable, and accessible to all athletes. This session introduces PCA's tool for organizational culture shaping and evaluation: The Positive Youth Sports Culture Index (PYSC Index).

• Strategic Planning and Financial Management for Nonprofits (Forte Nonprofit Consulting) +

  Please join us for a presentation on all things that make your organization go, including discussions on governance, strategic planning, financial management, fundraising, corporate sponsorships, and more. This presentation will be a dialogue between you and our presenter, so bring your questions and concerns about successfully running your nonprofit.

  About the presenter: Kevin Long operates Forte Nonprofit Consulting, which focuses on nonprofit sports organizations, and the ways in which to improve business operations in order to better fulfill mission-driven businesses. He has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 20 years in a number of capacities including executive director, board president, secretary, director-at-large, and volunteer.

• From Awareness to Action: Mapping Risk and Protection in Youth Soccer (Safesport) +

  Every sport has its own culture. The same qualities that make youth soccer so rewarding - strong community, close coach-athlete relationships, dedicated families, and passionate volunteers - can also create unique challenges for safeguarding. In this interactive workshop, participants will apply SafeSport principles to the realities of youth soccer by exploring the cultural factors that shape their own clubs and organizations. Through reflective activities, attendees will identify the sport-specific dynamics that can increase or reduce risk, distinguish between risk and protective factors, and develop practical strategies they can implement in their own roles. Designed for all roles within the soccer ecosystem, this session will help participants move beyond compliance and leave with a clearer understanding of how everyday decisions can strengthen both safety and the overall culture of their program.

• Coaching Lab - Effective Feedback & Framing Communication; (UW Center for Leadership in Athletics;
  JP-Jennifer Peterson, Director of Coaching Initiatives & Strategy) On-the-field +

  Coaching Labs are a hands-on experience that allow participants to practice strategies and techniques in a realistic sport setting. Labs provide coaches with tools to use immediately with their athletes and teams.

  For more information about the University of Washington's Center for Leadership in Athletics (UW CLA) and coach education offerings, please visit uwcla.uw.edu.

• The Coaching Pathway (WYS) +

  Paul Bayly, Director of Coaching Education, will lead a classroom session on the U.S. Soccer Coaching Pathway. During this session, Paul will provide an overview of the pathway to becoming a licensed coach, including the various licensing courses, course content, time commitments, key competencies, and the developmental opportunities available at each stage of the coaching journey.

• Context Before Content: Building a Foundation for Safer Sport (Safesport) +

  Safeguarding in sport requires more than strong policies. It requires meaningful implementation in the complex realities of everyday sport. In this session, we'll explore how prevention education helps organizations move beyond reacting to misconduct and toward preventing harm before it occurs. Drawing on research, lived experience, and practical examples from youth soccer, participants will gain a deeper understanding of SafeSport principles, common misconceptions about abuse, grooming behaviors, and the cultural factors that can either increase or reduce risk.

• Coach Recruitment: Enhancing Systems to Attract Positive Coaches (Positive Coaching Alliance) +

  Finding and keeping committed coaches can feel overwhelming. It's not a secret that many programs struggle to build a healthy coaching pipeline. While there is no quick fix, our Coach Recruitment: Enhancing Systems to Attract Positive Coaches equips leaders with a clear, practical system to enhance their strategies for long-term success with confidence and intentionality.

• Playing With Purpose: Kicking It for the Planet (Whatcom Waves) +

  Join in for an exciting and inspiring session on how to fuse the "United Nations Football for the Goals" into programming and start your team's sustainable journey in soccer. As founder, player and coaching support for a "with, by and for" grassroots nonprofit organization, WHATCOM WAVES has a mission to seek climate, racial and social justice through sports. As a women's empowerment team, our duty and responsibility is to bring awareness, advocate and educate on ways to combat the drop-off of women in participation, learn about climate impacts on the sport, and what mitigation and adaptation strategies our team chooses to adhere to while promoting sustainable development in our built environment. Our annual women's tournament is held each year on WORLD WATER DAY and we embrace the spirit with our "SPLASH!DOWN" event.

• Coaching the Whole Female Athlete (Bras for Girls) +

  Your female athletes are facing challenges your coaching certification probably never covered. By age 14, girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys, and physical discomfort, ill-fitting equipment, and lack of support are driving factors coaches rarely hear about. As a coach, you are often the first trusted adult to notice when something is wrong, and the right resource at the right moment can keep a girl in the game for life.

  This session bridges the gap between sports science and the sideline. You will leave with a clear understanding of why female athletes sustain injuries at higher rates, how physical discomfort quietly drives dropout, and what free, research-backed tools you can put in your athletes' hands today.

  What Coaches Walk Away With

  Knowledge

  • Why female athletes drop out faster and what coaches can do about it.
  • How equipment fit drives retention and performance.
  • Female-specific injury risk and what to look for on the field.
  • The peer-reviewed research behind girls' sport participation.

  Practical Tools

  • BFG free sports bra curriculum: POWERFUL (grades 4-5), UNSTOPPABLE (grades 6-8), INVINCIBLE (grades 9-12).
  • Free athletic gear distribution and how to connect athletes in need.
  • Equipment fit guide to share with athletes and families.
  • Conversation starters for athletes and parents.

  Equity Lens

  • Access gaps and who is most at risk of being left out.
  • Cost as a participation barrier in youth sport.
  • BFG's free distribution model: 250,000+ bras across all 50 states and 15+ countries.
  • How to refer athletes and families to BFG resources.

  Team Culture

  • Creating an environment female athletes stay in.
  • Coach as the first line of support.
  • Talking with parents about gear, comfort, and athlete wellbeing.
• Unlocking the Power of Praise: A MindSKILLZ Approach to Youth Mental Wellbeing (Grassroots Soccer) On-the-field +

  The adolescent mental health crisis is growing, and we, as coaches, mentors, role models, and educators, can play a vital role in helping young athletes thrive. That shouldn't sound scary: with intentionality and a few simple strategies, every training session can be transformed into an opportunity to promote mental wellbeing.

  Join this interactive, field-based session to experience firsthand how Grassroot Soccer's MindSKILLZ coaching model uses real-life examples and drills to embed mental health support into the natural rhythm of a soccer practice. Participants will walk away equipped with a new framework for giving powerful praise and a set of practical techniques, including breathing exercises, check-ins, and grounding activities, to help athletes build resilience, cultivate positive coping skills, and strengthen self-esteem.