Jenna Bike has had seven different coaches in her time as a Chicago Star. The veteran utility player is one of just three players on the roster whose tenure with the squad runs longer than the ownership group that took over at the end of the 2023 season. Change is perhaps the only constant for the Stars in the time since.
Bike was candid in Chicago’s media call ahead of Wednesday’s match against the Houston Dash. “I think last year we were saying ‘Wow, last year felt like a lot of changes,’ and then we find ourselves in a similar spot,” Bike said. “But I think one thing about Chicago is that you can get hit and keep getting back up.”
The Stars players haven’t had much of a choice. “I don’t want to say we’re numb to it, but we face so much adversity that we just handle it and move on to the next thing,” Bike explained. “We’re very much focused on, okay, change happens. We’re not dwelling on it. We’re moving forward. I think that’s the mentality of this group. It’s the mentality of groups before, and I think that’s just what Chicago does. And credit to all the staff and players — I don’t think there’s other clubs in this league who can handle it the way that we have.”
Safe to say the Stars are a team in serious need of good vibes. Fortunately the latest coaching shakeup has brought former Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson back in the fold. His dismissal last April opened the revolving door of coaching changes that continues to spin. This time, Donaldson takes on the role of interim coaching director.
“We kind of are joking right now that he’s just the vibe guy, he’s bringing the good vibes and the good energy, and he’s always been like that,” Bike said of her former head coach. “He’s such a friendly face, but you know he cares about all of us. He sees all the potential, so it’s just been really great having him around.”
“I think it’s been a hard couple of years, and there’s been a ton of changes. But having someone who’s familiar with Chicago and what we’re about and what we’ve been about, and get back to those roots is what the team needs,” Bike continued. When Donaldson was the team’s head coach, the Stars embraced a defense-first mentality, with a gritty, blue-collar bite.
That playing style has all but disappeared for the Stars in the last year and a half. A failed rebuild under former general manager Richard Feuz intended to be a possession-based attack, but without the proper signings, it never came to fruition. Instead, the Stars have won every dubious prize on offer. Their bizarre signings under Feuz and uncertain stadium future ranked them as the least ambitious team according to ESPN. Their poor performance regularly lands them last in the CBS weekly power rankings, and last fall, ESPN’s anonymous GM survey found 40% of the league’s general managers believed the Chicago Stars are holding back the league’s progress. Twenty games into the 2026 season, the Stars seem doomed to finish last for the third time in four years.
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That much doom could easily crack and fragment a team, but the Stars locker room is holding firm. Bike credits the team’s fortitude to a roster and staff full of good people.
“We have a good locker room. They were really mindful in building the roster around a lot of just good, humble people who put their egos aside and show up every day,” Bike said. “It’s very easy to see a locker room get toxic, especially with what we’ve been through, and that hasn’t happened yet, and it won’t happen in the future. I think that’s one of my favorite things about Chicago.”
In a season marred by difficult moments, the players are committed to keep up the fight. Bike and her teammates are determined to bring this storied club back to winning ways. “I think we’ve been through a lot at this club, and the history of this club runs very deep, and the message that I want to get to the fans and to everyone looking on the outside is that better days are ahead, and there are people working tirelessly every day to make sure that we get there,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that that’s the case going forward.”
“It’s been a journey,” she admitted. “But better days are coming, and they’re coming this season. We don’t want to be written off. We haven’t written off ourselves.”
On Wednesday night the Stars suffered their worst defeat of the season at the hands of the Houston Dash, 5-0. It’s a new rock bottom for a team that’s trying to climb their way to daylight. With just 10 games left in the 2026 season, the Stars probably won’t be making the playoffs, but they do have a chance to go down swinging. To do so, they’ll need the front office to match the player’s efforts.
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