The Jim Gabarra era in Washington is over. On Tuesday, the Washington Spirit announced that they have parted ways with their General Manager and Head Coach, effective immediately. Assistant Coach Tom Torres will take over the role of head coach on an interim basis until the end of the season. President Chris Hummer will assume Gabarra’s responsibilities of General Manager.
Gabarra has been with the Spirit since 2016 and is a soccer mainstay in the Washington D.C. area. Prior to working with the Spirit he coached the Washington Freedom for nine seasons and was an assistant with the Naval Academy, among many other roles.
Torres joined the Spirit’s coaching staff this season after having served as the Technical Director for Washington Spirit Academy – Virginia. Prior to that position, he worked in the D.C. United Youth Academy system for over 10 years. He currently holds a USSF ‘A’, UEFA ‘B’ and USC Advanced National coaching licenses.
Mallory Pugh during last seasons match against the Portland Thorns (Photo by John Rudoff 7-22-2017)
Hummer has served as the Spirit’s President since 2016 and is the founder HummerSport, LLC which includes the publication SoccerWire* .
The Spirit are currently in second to last place in the NWSL standings with a 2-15-4 record. Although Washington flourished in Gabarra’s first season with the club, making it all the way to the NWSL Championship game, the final two seasons saw a nosedive in the club’s performance. After a roster overhaul in 2017 which saw players like Ali Krieger and Crystal Dunn leave, the club fell to the bottom of the standings.
While management brought in plenty of young exciting players this season, including Taylor Smith, Rebecca Quinn, and Rose Lavelle, results have still not gone their way. The Spirit have not won a match since their 1-0 win over Sky Blue back in April. Their road form has also been less than desirable with the club getting just two points in twelve matches (0-10-2, 2 points).
Washington have already been eliminated from the 2018 NWSL Playoffs and have three matches remaining this season, all of which are at home: the Utah Royals on Wednesday, Portland Thorns FC on Saturday (at Audi Field), and Sky Blue FC on September 1,
*Full disclosure: The author of this article is a freelance writer for SoccerWire
Washington Spirit
