May 18, 2026
It is just a little more than 800 miles from Chattanooga, Tenn. to Stillwater, Okla. But for Chattanooga FC and its traveling fans, the club’s first trip to the WPSL Championships last season was the next leg in what the club hopes will be a much longer journey.
“There is a clear understanding of what the club wants from the women’s team. It wants to help athletes transition players to the highest level. From the academy to the top college teams, and for college players into the professional game. And they wanted to compete for national titles doing it,” Sebastian Giraldo, Chattanooga FC sporting director, said.
Giraldo was brought as sporting director in October of 2024 after a hugely successful run as head coach of the Colorado Rapids Women, where he took the club to the WPSL Championships Final in 2023. Bringing him onboard was part of a club-wide overhaul signaling Chattanooga FC’s future ambitions on both the women’s and men’s sides of the highly ambitious club.
“We want to be considered one of the top programs in the country, and we want people to know this is a professional environment, from coaches to players, our medical staff, to the front office. Our athletes are going to get the absolute best the club has to offer,” Giraldo said.
After not finishing higher than fourth in three previous WPSL seasons, Chattanooga FC went 5-1-1 in the regular season, finishing second in the highly competitive Peachtree Division. The club’s only blemishes were a Week Five home loss to division winners, DECATUR FC, and a gut-wrenching 1-1 draw at Georgia Impact that all but killed the club’s division title hopes.
When DECATUR opted not to participate in the post season, Chattanooga FC seized the golden opportunity, topping Pioneer Division representative, Nashville Rhythm F.C. 1-0 off an 80th minute EG Dilliard goal to clinch its first Southeast Conference title and advance to the South Region Playoffs hosted by The District Division winner, Mclean Soccer. A 3-1 win over Arlington Soccer Blue in the South Region Playoffs semifinal put Chattanooga on the brink of its first South Region championship, squaring off against Gulf Coast Conference winners, LA Krewe Rush. Chattanooga jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half hour of the match behind goals by Hannah Tillett, Reese McDermott, the club’s leading scorer on the season with eight goals, and Anick Manga Zouma. Regina Campa closed out the scoring in second half added time to make it 4-0, booking Chattanooga FC’s first ticket to the WPSL Championships.
A contingent of 50-plus boisterous fans made the trek to Stillwater, Okla. where the WPSL Championships have been held since 2019, making Chattanooga FC feel very much like the home side in its semifinal matchup versus the defending WPSL champions, California Storm. After trading blows for 81 minutes, the five-time WPSL champions broke the scoreless deadlock with a highlight reel goal from the top of the box.
“That was such a tough loss after we played so well,” said then Chattanooga assistant coach, Majo Harispuru.
In February, Harispuru took over the reins of Chattanooga FC’s top women’s team when she was named head coach, replacing club legend, Juan Hernandez and associate head coach, Maryn Beutler. Both Hernandez and Beutler remain at Chattanooga FC in other developmental capacities.
“Last year gave me a glance of the great opportunities that we have here: the amount of energy, resources, and investment the club has placed in women’s soccer,” she said.
Entering the 2026 season, Chattanooga FC is quickly becoming a target for players from across the country—and around the world—seen as a place where they can continue to hone their game and receive extensive exposure while playing in a fully professional environment in front of devoted and boisterous fans.
Since last year’s postseason run ended, Harispuru and her staff have been inundated with inquiries from players wanting to play for Chattanooga FC. As the club prepares for its season opener May 28 at 865 Alliance.
“They see everything that we do here, and it is the kind of environment they want to be in,” Harispuru said. “Because it is such a short season, we really try to find players that will fit our culture from the beginning.”
Harispuru’s squad is an amalgam of players from last season’s history making squad, impactful college players, professional caliber post-collegiate players, and the cream of Chattanooga FC’s academy.
Harispuru’s squad will be tested early with a pair of midweek road matches: May 28 at 865 Alliance and June 2 at TN Tempt FC before it sees the friendly confines of Finely Stadium—where it went unbeaten in 2025—for the first time this year when it hosts Georgia Impact June 7. After hosting Nashville Rhythm FC at home June 16, Chattanooga takes to the road for what could prove to be pivotal matches at DECATUR FC June 23 and UFA Gunners June 27 before closing out the season at home with what Harispuru hopes to be a springboard into the postseason versus Atlanta Fire United July 1.
“It is going to be a very exciting season,” Harispuru said. “Now we just need to get the ball rolling.”
