Seattle Reign Practice Notebook: September 2nd, 2026

I love Lu back at the Reign. I really hope Jess does the same when she retires

CSS: How have you seen Lu Barnes transition into the current coaching staff?

Norton: I think the first word that comes to mind is seamless, and the second one is perspective. I mean, Lu was a proper professional as a player, as you well know, and then as a coach, there's no difference. She's also an elite human, off the field and on the field. She reads the game well. She was a five and a three, but also knows what midfielders should do, and also knows what forward should do. We do unit clips together, and we're talking about a fullback and how that connects with wingers, and and like you said, with perspective in terms of what's it like to go on a trip for 12 days, what's it like to play three games in seven days, what's it like to play on turf and train on grass, and when you're younger, when you're older. I'm kind of rambling now a little bit, but like I said, we talked about it a little bit yesterday with the commissioner, and Laura used the word seamless, and I was just like, it's a great word when talking about Lu. And then your your word I thought was great in terms of perspective, like she's just got a different perspective than all of us have in this moment. I mean, at this time last year, she was wearing blue, and now she's wearing yellow, but she has already earned the respect from coaches, players, staff. So it's actually quite nice. It's great, it's great working with her in a different capacity.