Jill Lounsbury, the Nighthawks general manager, stated, "Petra's commitment to the team and the organization; her knowledge of the game and her strategic approach; and being a woman and a "player's coach", I feel, is going to make a substantial difference to our players and the direction of the club. And having Yang (pronounced ‘young'), with her vast international and World Cup experience, as an assistant coach is very fortuitous for our players."

Petra's opportunity arose when Robert Sackey, the Nighthawks long-time head coach, took on the new role of Technical Advisor due to the demands on his time. His increasing commitment to train and coach Ghana's men's and women's National Teams and his commitment to the East Bay's premier youth soccer club, ACCYSL Mavericks (U10 - U19), where he is also director of coaching left little time to work with the Hawks. Both parties want to keep the relationship on-going but are looking out for what is best for the Nighthawks.

As a player, Petra's been a goalkeeper and began playing when she was four years old, which should provide true soccer aficionados just about everything that they need to know about her. Petra played her youth soccer in Boulder, Colorado with F.C. Boulder and was a member of Colorado's ODP State Pool. In high school, Petra was a 4-time soccer letter winner and a two-time MVP. She was also a very fast member of her high school ski team where she competed in two state championships.

In college, Petra had the unusual opportunity to play for three colleges...at once. Petra attended Claremont McKenna College (CMC), a small, premier undergraduate liberal arts college in Southern California. To field competitive teams, CMC joined with Harvey Mudd College, and Scripps College to create Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Athletics that competes in the NCAA's Division III. Petra led CMS to three Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference top-three finishes, a conference championship, and a NCAA playoff berth. Petra won a variety of awards in college, including Scholar-Athlete, two-time Co-Captain, 1st Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-Conference, NCAA Regional All-American, 2nd Team NCAA Regional All-American, NCAA Scholar All-Region, MVP, and Rookie of the Year.

In 2005, Petra was named a starter and helped Meistararflokkur Kvenna (of Iceland's top women's league) take second place in the First Division of Iceland's Western Region and earned a playoff berth. She also coached Icelandic youth at a summer soccer school. In 2006, Petra joined the Nighthawks halfway through the WPSL season and played in 5 of the 7 remaining games.

Petra began coaching at summer soccer academies as a sophomore in high school. Once the coaching bug bit, she has continued coaching summer youth camps, youth teams, and private players. Petra accepted her first high school head coaching assignment while she was still a senior in college. She coached that team for two years with an undefeated record. Following graduation, Petra remained with her college team to help coach and to help a new head coach transition into the program.

Petra loves to say that, Everyday I step on the field is a good day. Following game and practice auditions, Lounsbury and Nighthawks' senior players selected Petra to lead the team. Everyone associated with the organization strongly supports Petra and Yang and are looking forward to the 2007 WPSL season.