An accomplished business leader, former member of the U.S. Women’s National Team and
standout collegiate and professional player, Yael Averbuch West was named interim General
Manager and Head of Soccer Operations of Gotham FC on Aug. 3, 2021. She took the
permanent position four months later. Under her leadership, Gotham FC won the 2023 NWSL
championship and registered the most successful regular season in club history in 2024.

Born in New York and raised in Montclair, N.J., Averbuch developed as a player in youth
programs in her home state before reaching the first of her two goals in the game: playing for
the University of North Carolina.

In her time at UNC, the Tar Heels won national championships in 2006 and 2008. Averbuch set
the school record by starting 105 consecutive games, and she scored the fastest goal to begin
a game in women’s college soccer history (four seconds, against Yale in 2006). Among several
honors during her collegiate career, Averbuch was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year in
2006 and ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s soccer in 2007, and she was voted First
Team All-America three times by the NSCAA coaches. Averbuch received the ultimate honor
when North Carolina retired her No. 17 after her senior year.

Averbuch achieved her other childhood dream by earning 26 caps as a member of the U.S.
Women’s National Team from 2007-13. When she took the helm at Gotham FC in 2021,
Averbuch became the first former U.S. Women’s National Team player to be named general
manager of an NWSL club.

Averbuch was selected by Sky Blue FC with the fourth overall pick in the 2009 WPS Draft and
went on to win the league championship that year. She won another WPS title with the Western
NY Flash in 2011.

After two years playing in Russia and Sweden – which included competing in the UEFA
Women’s Champions League in 2012 – Averbuch played in the NWSL for five years between
2014-18. This included an NWSL championship in 2015 during her three seasons with FC
Kansas City, and she played one season each with the Washington Spirit and Seattle Reign.

While still playing in the NWSL, Averbuch began her career as an entrepreneur and business
leader. In 2016, she launched Techne Futbol – an app providing personal training for soccer
players of all ages, experience and skill levels – and remains the owner of the business today.
In 2017, she founded the NWSL Players Association and served as the organization’s first
president and, later, its first executive director.

Now that she has come full circle as GM and Head of Soccer Operations for Gotham FC,
Averbuch has returned to Montclair, where she lives with her husband and two children.