Albertin Montoya (born February 19, 1975) is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coach and former player who is the head coach of

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

club

Bay FC Bay Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team began play in the NWSL as an expansion team in the 2024 Nat ...

. He was a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

in his playing career. Born in Cuba, he represented the United States internationally at youth levels.

Youth and college

Montoya played at Mountain View Los Altos Soccer Club for a decade, coached by his father. Montoya played for North Carolina State for his first three college seasons, earning

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

First Team selections in 1994 and 1995. He transferred to

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

for the 1996 school year, earning

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

First Team selection as well as finalist nominations for the Hermann Trophy and Missouri Athletic Club player of the year awards for his senior season, where he led the

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed of horse, male or female, with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for ro ...

to their first ever outright WCC Championship.

Club career

In 1995, Montoya started his playing career with the San Francisco United All Blacks in the 1995 USISL Premier League season. After his time in college, Montoya was selected fourth overall in the

1997 MLS College Draft The 1997 Major League Soccer MLS College Draft, College Draft was held on February 1 and 2, 1997 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The draft took place in conjunction with the Umbro Select College All-Star Classic. The first round of the draft took pla ...

by the San Jose Clash. He spent two seasons with the club, the first on loan in the 1997 USISL A-League season with the Raleigh Flyers. Albertin was out of contract after his initial season, but was picked up by the Clash in the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. In his second Clash season he made his first MLS appearance, though he suffered a serious knee injury in the match which effectively ended his career, taking three years of recovery and multiple surgeries.

International career

Montoya featured for multiple United States youth national teams, earning call ups at the

U17 U17 or U-17 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , various vessels * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Cessna U-17 Skywagon, an American utility aircraft * Nonconvex great rhombicuboctahedron In geometry, the nonconvex g ...

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA S ...

, and U23 levels. Montoya was part of the United States squad at the

1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the fourth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Florence, Montecatini Terme, Viareggio, Massa, Carrara, and Livorno in Italy between 16 and 31 August 1991. Players born after 1 August 1974 co ...

. He had one appearance in the tournament, starting and scoring in a 3–1 win over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the United States' final group stage match.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Montoya's club coaching career began in 1999 when he became co-head coach of the Sacramento Storm, a role which he held until 2006. In 2003, he gained his introduction to professional women's soccer as an assistant trainer with the

San Jose CyberRays San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National T ...

of the WUSA, in the league's final season. Montoya would take on his first collegiate coaching role in 2005 at his alma mater

, joining as an assistant coach for the

Santa Clara Broncos women's soccer The Santa Clara Broncos women's soccer team represents Santa Clara University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women's soccer. The team competes in the West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as ...

team.

Professional coaching career

Montoya's first professional head coaching role was with

FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional women's soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Associati ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

. The club joined the league as a late founding club, having initially been planned to join as an expansion the following year. The team finished the 2009 WPS season in last place out of seven clubs. The following year the team reversed their fortunes by winning the double, finishing first place in the regular season as well as winning the 2010 WPS Championship. Montoya earned a finalist nomination for 2010 FIFA Women's World Coach of the Year. The club folded just a couple months after the season ended, and Montoya was free to find another coaching position. As head coach, Montoya led the

United States women's national under-17 soccer team The United States U-17 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the senior national team. The team's most recent major to ...

from 2011 to 2012. He was the interim head coach of the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

late in the

2022 season. On September 27, 2023,

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

expansion team

announced Montoya had been appointed as the team's first head coach. Montoya had initially been a consultant in finding a head coach but was ultimately selected by the organization for the role.

Personal life

Montoya is married to Erin Montoya, a former player in the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

and alumna of

. They have two children,

Allie Allie is a unisex given name, a nickname and, more rarely a surname. It is a diminutive form of several names beginning with ''Al-''. It may refer to: Given name or nickname Female * Allie (wrestler) (born 1987), Canadian professional wrestler ...

and Mikey. Allie currently plays for

Stanford Cardinal women's soccer The Stanford Cardinal women's soccer team represents Stanford University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I association football, soccer. Home games are played at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, located on the university's campus in Palo ...

References

External links

*
FC Gold Pride coaching profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montoya, Albertin 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Camagüey American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Bay FC head coaches Cuban football managers Cuban men's footballers Cuban emigrants to the United States American sportspeople of Cuban descent NC State Wolfpack men's soccer players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) Raleigh Express players San Francisco United All Blacks players San Jose Earthquakes players Santa Clara Broncos men's soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players San Jose Earthquakes draft picks Soccer players from California Men's association football midfielders Women's Professional Soccer coaches Washington Spirit head coaches 20th-century American sportsmen