One of the longest-running amateur women’s teams in the world, playing since 1995; a member of the first iteration of the USL W League, and a founding member of the WPSL, we wanted to know everything about the Red, Black, and Fog. So, we were excited when GM of the San Francisco Nighthawks, Jill Lounsbury, took time out of her schedule to answer our questions.

Tell us the origin story of San Francisco Nighthawks - when was it founded? By whom and what was its mission?
Nighthawks were founded in 1995 by Dick Cross in order to help local women players to have someplace to play at a high level after and during College, as there was nothing for women at that level. We played in tournaments and went to Japan to play their National Team, and also Played them here. We have played the Ghana National Team and China's National Team as well as the Chinese leading Professional Team out of Bejing. We initially joined the inaugural W-League, as a compliment to the men's league, but became frustrated with paying the same amount as the men but always second to them in resources and support. So in 1998, 4 teams from California decided to start the Women's Premier Soccer League to be a stand-alone Women's League and put ourselves first. We have now expanded to 150 teams Nation wide and are considered by USASA to be the best Amateur League in the world.

Our mission has always been to give Women Soccer players the best competition we can and help them to the next step in their careers, whether that is getting High Schoolers into College, College players training in the Summer to ready them for NCAA Fall Competition, or to Graduate players into Professional Clubs abroad or here in the NWSL, and for players not ready to retire and still want to play at their highest level. Our personal commitment is to be welcoming and Inclusive (we don't care about your age, size or club you come from, if you can play, then you can play), Diverse and Joyful. Our tagline is: this is your #Joynotjob. Too many players have horrible college experiences- the game becomes a job, some college coaches only care about winning to keep their jobs, often at players physical and emotional expense; Our Mission is to bring them back to when the game was fun and joy came from playing and winning the right way.

Tell us about your badge and colors – how does it connect to the community?
Our colors are Red, Black and Fog. We have lots of Hawks in the area so it is a natural mascot. The Black because it looks so darn good with red. The Red Star was added later because of the SF Mime Troupe had retired and because it is on the California Flag, we placed that Star on our Hawks back very purposefully, proud of California and SF traditions. And Fog, well you know why, Fog is an major SF character.

We also like to choose topical subjects to be on our uniforms, to make a statement.

What league or leagues does your club participate in and why did you choose those to join?
We are one of the few teams that plays all year round. We play in the Local Golden Gate Women's Soccer League and have 2 teams one in Premier, for WPSL players, and 1 in First for Alumni, Players coming back from injury or pregnancy and young hopefuls. We really like giving opportunity to young players to get experience playing with older D1 players and to be mentored by them. Then in off season we play Futsal (2014 National Champs, then our facility closed), Tournaments and pickup in the Winter and late Summer. For us, we never want to stop playing!

How does the club stay funded and how can our readers support you?
We have been selling merch from the beginning, for family and friend, to get our name out there and to supplement costs. However recently we learned from SFCityFC how important it is to sell Replica Jerseys and how that can offset even more costs. So fans and family buying our gear to support the team is incredibly helpful. Please by all means stop by our merch tent at SFCityFC and Our games to help us out!! It is appreciated and so exciting when we see our gear out in the wilds of the City streets.

How did you finish last year and what are your goals for the 2026 season?
Last year we were ranked most of the season- but had a couple of early rough outings. Right now we are ranked 20th out of 42 and our goal is to move up and always our goal is to win the Division. We are always growing and building.

How do San Francisco Nighthawks participate in or give back to their community?
We are backed by our community, especially Cole Valley, located near Kezar Stadium, our often home field. Our training shirts (pictured is the many iterations through the years) are funded by the local businesses who also provide prizes and gifts for our fundraisers, in turn we promote patronizing these businesses for their kindness.

One of the things we are most proud of is how many of our players become community member: So many of them Coach at Local Clubs; ScoresBayArea, Girls Unite, SF United, Vikings, Elite, Glens, Burlingame, Santa Rosa United, East Bay Alliance and more! They also become Teachers, Principles, Deans, Fire Fighters, Therapists, Doctors, Community Activists, Non-Profit Managers. They have started a variety of Soccer offshoots like Nomads Beach Soccer, Cali Beach Soccer, TeqBall, the first US Futsal Teams, FutSoul Community Soccer. We are beyond proud of them.

We were also at the forefront of building and creating more fields in SF. A lack of fields in an area already low in Children population meant any good youth players would leave the City to play with Clubs in other bays where they had fields and resources. We advised and fought side by side with the CityFields Foundation, SF Rec and Parks and The Fisher Family, to turf and light many of our fields, adding more playtime to the inventory. The Crown Jewel was Beach Chalet that took 4 years of work to finally achieve the dream. This has allowed us to keep families and children right here in SF.

If there were one or two teams, within a 100 miles of you, to play a friendly against – who would you play and why?
We usually play a friendly at the end of the WPSL season with Marin FC, and will continue that tradition if we can. We Napa Valley1839, they are good people. Also We really like the direction the Stockton Cargo has taken- we like their moxie and vision, so if we could we would love a friendly with them. and Maybe, someday soon, a preseason game with Bay FC!

Follow San Francisco Nighthawks and give them a follow on Instagram HERE