10 Questions with Chicago Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes

Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes is in San Francisco this week watching Stanford, UCLA, USC, USF, and Santa Clara women’s soccer teams play. I thought it would be fun to ask her the WPS series of “Off the Field” questions we collect from the players. Hey, coaches have favorite TV shows and i-pod apps, too!

1. What are the three things you can never be without while traveling?

- My i-phone (Follow up: Q: Favorite App. A: At the moment, Air Hockey)
- A good read (Follow up: Q: Best Book you’ve read recently. A: White Tiger by Aravind Adiga)
- My i-pod (Follow up: Q: Recent artist. A: Crazy P, I can’t stop listening to it – and MGMT)

2. If you didn’t coach professional soccer, what other profession would you want to try and why?

- I’d like to be working in international relations. More specifically, I think I’d like to be working MI5 and MI6, England’s secret service agency. And if I told you any more about that, I’d have to kill you.

3. What’s your perfect day off?

- Get up, work out, Skype with family back home, do something cultural. (Follow up: Q: What cultural activity have you done recently that you enjoyed? A: We went to California Academy of Science, it was spectacular. I really enjoyed the planetarium show, and particularly like the Sea Dragons)

4. What famous person most inspires you and why?

- Hmmm. Good question. There are so many…. I’m not sure!

5. If you had a dinner party, who are the three people you would invite (can be living or dead)?

- I would invite Noam Chomsky, Hunter S. Thompson and my favorite footballer, Diego Maradona. That’s an interesting table, right?

QUICK HITS – List your top three favorites:

6. TV Shows:

1. Sex and the City
2. Grey’s Anatomy
3. Heroes

7. Places to Shop:

1. Any sort of bargain basement store, like Marshalll’s or TJ Maxx. I love rummaging.
2. All Saints in London
3. Bloomingdales

8. Restaurants:

1. Netta in Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Italy
2. DEFINITELY my mum’s kitchen. That’s a freaking restaurant to me.
3. The Cliff in Barbados

9. Professional Athletes:

1. David Beckham
2. LeBron James
3. And I’m really in awe of Michael Phelps – he blows my brains away, that guy.

10. Cities (in any country):

1. Barcelona, Spain
2. San Francisco, Calif.
3. Prague, Czech Republic