For almost two decades, Tampa Bay Sun FC President Christina Unkel and Head Coach Denise Schilte-Brown co-existed in the same soccer spaces, but in very different realms.
As Unkel served as a match official for numerous games involving Schilte-Brown’s University of South Florida squad over the years, however, she understood the leadership qualities that made the Halifax, Nova Scotia native special.
“[It’s] a very interesting kind of a dichotomy of a referee and a head coach, right?” Unkel told uslsuperleague.com recently. “To see, most importantly, the players that she coached, being on the pitch with them, seeing how they fought through adversity, how they respected their coach, how they just had it, you could tell.”
So, when it came time for Unkel to make one of the most important early hires in her role as the Sun’s President, she was adamant who she wanted to be the club’s first Head Coach.
“When ownership and I came together, we said, ‘Who should be the first head coach?’” added Unkel. “And I said, ‘Well, to be quite honest,’ – and they were on the same page – ‘Denise Schilte-Brown, because I’ve seen what she’s delivered in the program in the most intimate way, being on the field for 90 minutes at some of the hardest times for these athletes, and how she can get that out of them.’” Almost two years on from the duo’s introduction in July, 2023, Schilte-Brown has delivered everything the Sun had hoped for.
College Proven, Professional Ready
Schilte-Brown had proven herself at the college level.
After success at Virginia Commonwealth University, at USF she put a program that prior to her arrival in 2007 hadn’t had a winning season in eight years on the national map. During her tenure, USF earned six American Athletic Conference titles and made numerous trips to the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
The Bulls also saw their first All-America selections in program history and sent numerous players such as Chilean national team goalkeeper Christiane Endler and Canadian national team forward Evelyne Viens into the professional ranks.
In that regard, the opportunity to move into the professional ranks was a long time coming.
At the same time, joining the Sun may not have been a better situation for the Canadian, with her tenure at USF having seen her become a central figure in Tampa Bay’s soccer community.
“I’d been praying about it a lot,” said Schilte-Brown. “I’m a Christian, so I feel like God opens the appropriate doors at the right time, and when this door opened, I knew there was no hesitation. I knew that that’s where God wanted me, and that this was the time for me to step into that role.”
Stepping Up Alongside Familiar Faces
There was an adjustment period for Schilte-Brown at the Sun, at least at first.
Going from the sprint of a four-month season in college to an 11-month campaign in the USL Super League, she felt the rise in intensity as the focus shifted solely to producing the best performance week-in and week-out on the field without the curricular responsibilities that college requires.
“In college, there’s a lot of other moving pieces. This is very football centric,” said Schilte-Brown. “It’s a grind. It is really tough. It’s grueling in terms of time and process. But you know, the joy and pleasure is that it’s women that want to be there every day, that give it their all, that are there before and after practice. And it’s really concentrated on what I’m born to do, which is coach football.”
When it came to her first squad, however, Schilte-Brown had some familiar faces along for the ride. Bringing in a quartet of former South Florida stars – captain Jordyn Listro, defender Vivienne Bessette, midfielder Andrea Hauksdóttir and forward Sydny Nasello – there was a core who took the same leap of faith as their coach.
“I had an incredible four years at USF, with her and [husband and current USF Head Coach] Chris [Brown], and I’ve kept in touch with her ever since, and just leaned on her for guidance,” said Listro. “So, when she told me that she was interviewing for the job, obviously I was very excited. I wasn’t sure if I was going to come or not, but she definitely convinced me, and I’m so happy I made the decision.”
“We didn’t know what this league was going to be,” added Bessette, “but I think just trusting in the process and trusting in our teammates and the coach, I think it was just faith. We just did it together. We just needed to trust in ourselves that we were going to come here and do what we needed to do.”
That trust speaks to the confidence Schilte-Brown engendered in her players over the course of the Sun’s inaugural campaign. While the former Bulls played a role in helping their new teammates grow accustomed to Schilte-Brown’s way of working, as the season went on the unity within the squad provided a foundation from which its upward trajectory was built over the second half of the campaign.
“I had early trust with a lot of them,” said Schilte-Brown, “and then they helped bridge the gap between me and other players, understanding me, understanding what was happening, how to move the needle forward.
“Then everybody else’s relationship caught up to that. And that’s why this culminated into such a great opportunity, because those relationships all caught up. The trust was very high by the end.”
Making a Second-Half Move
The close bond the team built over an up-and-down first half of the season bore fruit as they reconvened after the winter break.
From that point – at which point the Sun sat in fifth place, outside the playoff line – Tampa Bay lost only twice in 15 regular season games. The club’s 7-2-6 record came with a +11-goal differential and a top-three position in both Expected Goals (20.18xG) and Expected Goals Against (13.83xG).
What’s more, the Sun delivered in the games that mattered most. The side posted an undefeated record against eventual Players’ Shield winner Carolina Ascent (2-0-2). It also put together a run of three wins in four games to close the regular season that included a 1-0 result on May 4 against Dallas Trinity. That result proved crucial as the Sun earned the No. 2 seed in the postseason, ending the season three points ahead of Dallas.
In the middle of that run was the leadership and conscious decision-making from Schilte-Brown which centered the players in key decisions and moments.
“She has a very big servant heart,” said Unkel. “So, you want your coach to be hard in the sense of, you want her to get the best from her team, to have a performance mindset. But you know that everything and anything she does, she’s putting players first. She’s putting the team first, and she’s making sure that the best interests of the players are at heart.”
Schilte-Brown credits her player-first mindset to her faith.
“Trying to be a Christ-centered coach is difficult,” she said. “God challenges us every day, and I think we’re super flawed as humans, but just trying to lean on Christ and the understanding of what that means to be a Christ-living coach, that’s hopefully where that comes from.”
For a group of players that, as Bessette describes it, came from different places with different experiences, the desire to see the squad succeed on the field but thrive as people as well was fundamental to how the Sun grew. In fostering relationships that went beyond the training field and gameday, Schilte-Brown developed a trust that was visible to those within the club’s staff and the inner circle of the locker room.
“She’s just a true leader,” said Listro. “She believes in you on and off the field, and tries to get the best out of you, and just makes you a powerful woman. I’ve grown so much under her, and I’m just so thankful for her.”
“I think to be able to see that on the inside-out right from inside the clubhouse, it reinforces why we picked her as her head coach,” added Unkel.
Bringing Super League Success to Tampa Bay
Having earned a place in the inaugural Super League Final, the Sun were determined to not let the opportunity slip away.
Thanks to an MVP performance by Nasello and an extra time game-winner by Cecilie Fløe, the side became the latest in the Tampa Bay region to claim silverware in recent years as its 1-0 victory against in-state rival Fort Lauderdale United FC before a sellout crowd at Riverfront Stadium capped a remarkable campaign.
A few days later, as the club celebrated with a boat parade up Tampa’s Hillsborough River, Schilte-Brown was thoughtful in what the club’s success meant.
“I just believe that in this lifetime, we’ll always remember this moment,” she said. “There’ll be moments like this to celebrate, but relationships are what matter.”
As Tampa Bay turns its focus on the new season in August, it may be that mindset that cements the Sun as a perennial contender. For all the anticipation that surrounded the club at the start of the season, nothing is ever promised, making the fulfilment of a first league title a reflection on the way Unkel and Schilte-Brown have directed the ship.
“The ability to have those conversations, right?” said Unkel. “Instead of looking at things and just kind of running through it, we can sit there and have those conversations on kind of a bunch of different angles.
“Being able to collaborate with one another, and being able to understand and just build something together, that’s one of the hardest things her and I both have done together. It’s been an incredible combination.”
With one trophy in the club’s case, Schilte-Brown is aiming to add more. She’s also ready to add to the living legacy the Sun are building one fan, one player and one game at a time.
“I really wanted this for the ladies, but I wanted it for the future generation,” said Schilte-Brown. “I wanted them to understand that we are as important as men’s professional players, and that the community would be there, and rise up and they did so.
“I’m so grateful for the community, for every single person that came out here, it means the world.”