Tucson, AZ- March 5, 2026 – FC Tucson announces today FC Tucson Youth Girls Academy Director, Ryan Hall, will be returning as the head coach of the club’s women’s team for the 2026 season. Hall previously stepped down from the role at the beginning of the 2025 season to focus on his then new full-time role as the Girls Academy Director at FC Tucson Youth.
To round out the Women’s Team staff, Hall has appointed Gabriel Mendoza, FC Tucson Youth Boys National Director, as his team admin and assistant coach.
Ryan Hall History:
A Virginia native, Hall spent four years as a starter at Syracuse University, graduating in 2003. He then went on to play two years with the Syracuse Salty Dogs in the USL 1st division. He also played two years of professional soccer for the Cleveland Force of the MISL (Major Indoor Soccer League), and one year with the Rochester Rhinos. Hall has an extensive coaching career spanning over fifteen years, five of which were spent coaching for the Major Indoor Soccer League.
After a long tenured career both as a professional player and coach, Hall has a proven track record in player development, strategic coaching, and team leadership making him an ideal fit to guide FC Tucson Women this upcoming season. His leadership and dedication to player development align perfectly with FC Tucson’s commitment to building a competitive and sustainable women’s program.
Gabriel Mendoza History:
A southern Arizona native and prominent Tucson-based soccer coach, Gabrie lMendoza grew up playing soccer locally in Tucson at Tucson Soccer Academy, Real Salt Lake Academy (Casa Grande) and at the collegiate level at Pima Community College. Since completing his playing career, Mendoza has continued to support the Tucson soccer community with coaching at both Tucson Soccer Academy and FC Tucson Youth as both a coach and currently as the FC Tucson Youth Boys National League Director. In addition to youth soccer, Mendoza also is currently serving as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Pima Community College. He helped lead the team to the 2018 NJCAA National Championship Title and received recognition with the 2018 NJCAA Staff of the Year.
With Mendoza’s deep rooted history with the soccer community in Tucson, his addition to Hall’s staff for the 2026 season is guaranteed to be an asset for FC Tucson as they look toward the future of the club.
“We are excited to welcome back Ryan and add Gabe to the FC Tucson WPSL family.” said Jon Pearlman, Founder and President of FC Tucson. “Their combined experience at the youth and collegiate levels, along with Gabe’s roots as an FC Tucson Academy player will undoubtedly help to continue building a strong and competitive women’s program for the club.”
FC Tucson Women will play the entirety of their thirteenth season in the WPSL (Women’s Premiere Soccer League) on the Kino Sports Complex North Grandstand due to Kino Sports Complex being selected as a FIFA World Cup 2026™ team base camp training site. The teams schedule and division opponents will be released on March 18th.
FC Tucson extends its gratitude to former Women’s Head Coach and Player, Caylee Carter and her staff, for their commitment to the success of the program and the hard work they put forth to have the team be successful last season. We wish them all the very best.
For any media inquiries, please contact media@fctucson.com.
**About FC Tucson:**
FC Tucson is Southern Arizona’s preeminent soccer club. Founded in 2011, the club currently consists of an amateur men’s team in USL League Two, an amateur women’s team in the WPSL, and a boys’ youth academy program in USL Academy. Our men’s and women’s teams consist of high level youth, college, and adult players primarily from Southern Arizona and our academy program provides an elite youth platform for top youth prospects in Tucson.
