Orlando Pride, Haley Carter Agree to New Contract

The Orlando Pride announced today that Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Haley Carter have agreed to a new contract that will keep her in the City Beautiful through the 2026 season with an option for 2027. In addition, Carter’s new title will be vice president of soccer operations and sporting director.

“Haley’s work and influence have been instrumental in our goals to build the Pride into a model sports franchise, not just in women’s soccer but across all of sports,” Orlando Pride Chairman Mark Wilf said in a club press release. “She has worked tirelessly to help us build a first-class working environment for both our players and staff, and we believe her leadership will guide us to many years of long-term success. We are very excited to reward her with a new contract and to support the vision she has for the future of the Pride. Our fans and players are in the best possible hands with Haley and Seb Hines leading our Pride soccer operations, and we are look forward to seeing what more they will accomplish this year and beyond.”

The 40-year-old Carter was named the club’s vice president of soccer operations and general manager on Jan. 30, 2023, succeeding former club GM Ian Fleming and overseeing all elements of the team’s soccer operations. Today, she gets a bump in title after revamping a struggling team into a side that currently leads the NWSL standings with an undefeated record.

“I’m really excited. Obviously, the opportunity to get to continue what we’re building here in Orlando, working with the Wilf family and our entire ownership group, with our athletes, working collectively with Seb and our soccer staff, and with our front office staff, it’s an inspiring group to be a part of,” Carter said in the club’s release. “This is just the beginning. I can’t wait to continue the journey and continue building off of the foundation we’ve created in the last 18 months. We’ve broken some records, and we found some success on the field and off the field. But we want to ultimately bring championships and trophies to Orlando. The work never stops.”

Through Carter’s leadership and Hines’ management, the Pride are in the midst of the team’s best regular season ever, already having set new league records for consecutive wins (8) and consecutive games unbeaten (18). Orlando has also set club records for wins (12), road wins (6), and points (41). Carter was instrumental in the club’s signing of Zambian international forward Barbra Banda, who is second in the league in goals scored, just one off of the Golden Boot lead. Other arrivals under Carter’s tenure include Brazilian internationals Rafaelle, Adriana, Angelina, and Luana, former USWNT midfielder Morgan Gautrat, and draft picks Emily Sams, Summer Yates, Cori Dyke, and Ally Lemos. She has also revamped the Pride’s player-retention strategy, locking down promising and/or valuable players to multi-year contracts.

Since Carter arrived with the club and teamed up with Hines, Orlando has gone 22-11-6, narrowly missing last year’s playoffs on a goal differential tiebreaker. With nine games still to play in the 2024 NWSL regular season, the Pride are only a couple of points shy of clinching just the club’s second-ever postseason appearance. However, the club has bigger aspirations this season with its 17-game unbeaten run to start the season.

A former Houston Dash goalkeeper, Carter played in the NWSL from 2013 to 2016 and at the U.S. Naval Academy from 2002-2005. She arrived in Orlando as an accomplished business executive, coach, licensed attorney, former U.S. Marine officer, and a certified professional football scout, holding Level I and II Talent Identification certification through the Professional Football Scouts Association.

While serving on active duty in the Marine Corps, Carter represented the United States in two International Military Sports Council Women’s Military World Soccer Championships.

The Friendswood, TX native appeared in 27 matches with the Navy Midshipmen while at the U.S. Naval Academy. After completing her active duty, Carter spent three seasons with the Houston Dash. She did not play in a competitive match with the Dash, and made the team’s bench one time. Still, she became the first-ever women’s player recognized with the FIFPro World Players’ Union Merit Award in her final season.

After hanging up her boots, Carter embarked on a coaching career, gaining experience at the youth, collegiate, and international levels. While still with the Dash, she served as an assistant coach at Huston–Tillotson University, a historically Black college in Austin from 2014-2015, and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX from 2015-2016.

From 2016 to 2018, Carter was an assistant coach for the Afghanistan Women’s National Team under former USWNT defender Kelly Lindsey. She returned to the college ranks in 2019 as an assistant coach at the University of Houston and also served as a consultant for the Houston Dash’s scouting and recruitment. She served as the goalkeeper coach for the Antigua and Barbuda Women’s National Team from 2019 to 2021.

Away from the pitch, Carter has shown a dedication to various women’s and social causes. In 2021, she played a role in evacuating more than 100 people from Kabul, Afghanistan, including members and families of the national team she coached, who were at risk due to the Taliban takeover. She has served on the Executive Board for the Girls Academy League, the City of Houston Women’s Commission, and chaired the City of Houston Commission to End Gun Violence.

Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with honors in 2006. After earning her commission, Carter served nearly eight years as a Marine Corps logistics officer, making two combat deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition to her degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, Carter possesses an MBA with Distinction from the University of Liverpool and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Houston Law Center.