Laura Harvey extends contract with OL Reign through 2023

OL Reign announced today that head coach Laura Harvey’s contract has been extended through the 2023 season. Since her return to the club in August, the Reign have gone 7-2-2 and climbed up the standings, finishing the regular season in second place and earning a first-round playoff bye after being as low as ninth for several weeks in June and July.

“I think just getting the players to believe in something was key,” said Harvey in a team release. “Getting them to believe in themselves and what they could achieve as a group was important. Obviously, huge credit to Sam [Assistant Coach/interim head coach Sam Laity]. He started that process off. I just came in and just tried to continue that and provide a bit of structure and clarity on what they needed to do and get the group to believe in themselves so that they could go out there and execute. The more we did that, the more confident we got which enabled us to go on the run that we did.”

Harvey was the Reign’s original head coach in 2013, winning two NWSL Shields and two NWSL Coach of the Year awards with the team before stepping away after the 2017 season. She then served as head coach of the Utah Royals FC for two years before taking the role of USWNT U-20 head coach, with whom she won the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship. After Farid Benstiti’s abrupt resignation as OL Reign head coach in early July, Laity led the team on an interim basis for six games while Harvey was in Japan as an assistant to Vlatko Andonovski at the Olympics, helping guide the USWNT to a bronze medal.

“I’m really happy to have extended my contract with this team and this organization. When I signed my contract earlier this season, there was a lot of uncertainty about where the team was at and I’m glad we were able to put performances on the field that we have been proud of. I see a long-term vision of what we are trying to achieve at the club, and I am so happy to be a part of it,” said Harvey in the release.