Albertin Montoya leaves Bay FC, says he turned down offer to coach youth academy
Albertin Montoya will not be joining Bay FC’s front office for the upcoming season, Montoya and the club confirmed to the Bay Area News Group.
Montoya had previously alluded to joining Bay FC in a youth-facing role after the club announced he was stepping down as head coach late last season. He told this news organization that Bay FC offered him the role of director of coaching for the club’s future youth academy, but he declined, citing a desire to spend more time coaching and watching his son Michael, a junior soccer player at Mountain View High.
Last week, Mountain View Los Altos (MVLA) Soccer Club, where Montoya has a long history, announced him as the club’s new sporting director in an Instagram post, saying, “He’s home.”
Michael Montoya also plays for MVLA, and Albertin Montoya will now coach him in his upcoming club season, the final one of his youth career.
“If I was with Bay FC, I would not be able to do that,” the elder Montoya said.
Montoya said last fall that his planned role at Bay FC would not be directly tied to any particular youth club, including MVLA, which has traditionally been the top girls soccer club in the Bay Area and one of the best in the country.
Whether there is a direct or indirect partnership, it’s a safe bet that MVLA and Bay FC will continue to be linked in the years ahead. Bay FC’s roster last season featured three players who played for MVLA in Abby Dahlkemper, Karlie Lema and Catherine Paulson.
MVLA was ranked the No. 1 girls soccer club in the country by Girls Soccer Network in December.
Montoya resigned after a season marred by the coach being the focus of an investigation into Bay FC’s culture. He was ultimately cleared, but the investigation uncovered “shortcomings” in Montoya’s communication style and recommended a series of corrective actions.
He indicated when he stepped down that Bay FC’s plan all along was for him to get things “up and running” in what the club began referring to as its startup phase, then set the table for someone else to take over.
Montoya acknowledged the challenges of the investigation, admitting that it was a distraction.
“We did our best efforts to not make it a distraction,” Montoya said. “If you asked the players, they’d say no, coaching staff, it wasn’t. But it affected other things.”
Bay FC’s leadership as a whole has changed significantly since the club’s first season. Founding general manager Lucy Rushton departed midseason in 2024, leaving technical director Matt Potter to take over as sporting director.
Last January, Kay Cossington arrived as the CEO of Bay Collective — the parent company above the club — and has been overseeing Bay FC’s strategy since then. She supervised the hiring process that led to Emma Coates being appointed Bay FC’s new coach in December.
Founding CEO Brady Stewart also left late last season, as did Bay FC’s director of medical performance. A replacement for Stewart has not been announced by the club.
Bay FC begins training camp Thursday and starts the NWSL regular season on March 14 against new club Denver Summit at PayPal Park.
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