Since its creation in the late 1980s, Western United F.C. has had an unparalleled history of success in developing Western Massachusetts youth soccer players for higher levels of play. Former Western United F.C. players have reached the professional ranks:

***James Thorpe	(MLS; D.C. United)
***Jay Heaps	(MLS; New England Revolution)
***Mary McVeigh	(WUSA; Philadelphia Charge)
***Craig Zadie	(MLS; D.C. United)
***Robbie Russell	(U.S. National Team Pool; MLS; drafted by L.A. Galaxy)
***Mike Butler	(MLS; NY/NJ Metro Stars)

while many others are knocking on the door:

***Mike Dias	(USL;Western Mass Pioneers)
***Lakota Denton	(USL; New Hampshire Phantoms)
***Matt Striebel	(USL; Western Mass Pioneers)
***Zach Samol	(USL; Western Mass Pioneers)
***Kevin McMenamin	(PDL; Worcester Kings)
***Kelly Hurley	(W-League; Springfield Sirens)
***Rachel LeDuc	(W-League; Springfield Sirens)
***Tara Foley	(W-League; Springfield Sirens)
***Catherine Pacilio	(W-League; Springfield Sirens)

and countless others have gone on to play soccer at some of the top national, regional and local collegiate soccer programs, such as:

***Duke	***Princeton	***Harvard
***Wake Forest	***Univ. of Michigan	***Boston College
***Northeastern Univ.	***Dartmouth	***William & Mary
***UMass	***Richmond	***Univ. of Vermont
***Univ. of Maine	***Bucknell	***Fairfield
***Amherst	***Boston Univ.	***Middlebury
***Quinnipiac	***WNEC	***Springfield College
***Westfield State	***AIC	***Univ. of New Hampshire
***Wheaton College (MA)	***Lafayette College	***Babson College

and many, many others!

However, not only our "graduates" find that their training with some of the best college, high school and youth soccer coaches has prepared them well for the highest level of competition, but our youngest players also gain recognition for their excellence. Each year, for example, Western United F.C. places on average between 15 and 20 players on the Massachusetts State Select Teams in their respective age groups. These teams are part of the U.S. Olympic Development Program's efforts to identify future national and Olympic team members. Congratulations to this year's (2003) Western United F.C. ODP State Select Team Members:

and more to be announced!

***Under-11 Boys Team:	Michael Choquette
***Under-12 Boys Team:	Carl Gottschall, Ian Waldron
***Under-13 Boys Team:	Sam DeMello, Bill Ferriter, Ryan Limero, Casey Marini, Dan McCarthy, Connor Mooney, Liam Mulhern, Sean Sullivan
***Under-14 Boys Team:	Eric Gillett
***Under-15 Boys Team:	George Anderson-DiLorenzo, Joe Calabrese, Kevin Pereira, Nick Rouzier
***Under-13 Girls Team:	Brie Butcher
***Under-15 Girls Team:	Samantha Fortier, Hannah Hertzler (NH ODP), Logan Kirkpatrick, Kendall Knapik, Shannon Neschke, Therese Smith, Caroline Washburne, Jessica Gannon
***Under-16 Girls Team:	Casey Les

A number of current Western United F.C. players have also been selected to the U.S. Regional Pool (Katie Coffey, Samantha Fortier, Hannah Hertzler, George Anderson-DiLorenzo) and two players (one current and one former) have even advanced in recent years to the U.S. National Team Pool (Greg Balicki, Ryan Kelly)! Add to this the countless honors that our players receive in high school soccer (All-American; All-New England; All-State; All-Western Mass; Western Mass Player of the Year, etc.) and Western United F.C.'s record of player development speaks for itself! Western United F.C. has been able to achieve this success in developing players while at the same time claiming many State Cup championships in the MAPLE Premier League, as well as very strong showings in the USYSA Regional Championships. Over the last eight years our teams have accomplished the following:

***15 State Cup Championships
***8 Regional Semifinalists
***4 Regional Finalists
***1 Regional Championship

Our organization has a national reputation, in part because our teams have performed successfully in some of the top youth soccer tournaments in the U.S.: the Dallas Cup (Texas); the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl (Florida); the USA Cup (Minnesota); the Jefferson Cup (Virginia); the Cocoa Cup (Florida); the Columbia Invitational (Maryland); the Pocono Cup (Pennsylvania) and many others!

Our coaching staff and board includes some of the top collegiate, high school and youth soccer coaches in Western Massachusetts, whose love of the game is reflected in their time, effort and commitment to the Western United F.C. program, among them

***Jon Lowery (Men's Asst. Coach, UMass Amherst)
***Rebecca Myers (Asst. Women's Coach, Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst)
***John Ingalls (Boys Varsity Coach, Minnechaug Regional H.S.)
***Gary Cook (Boy's Varsity Coach, Wilbraham & Monson Academy)
***Lynn Pantuosco (former Holyoke CC Women's Coach; NSCAA National Licenses) ***Peter DeMello (former Boy's Varsity Coach, Southwick High School; NSCAA National Licenses)
***Jim Mercer (Boy's Varsity Coach, South Hadley High School, NSCAA Licenses)
***Stephen Balicki (NSCAA and USSF Licenses)
***Tim Murphy (NSCAA and USSF Licenses)
***Jim Fisher (NSCAA and USSF Licenses)
***Kevin Roberts (Girls' Varsity Coach, Holyoke High School)
***Ryan Kelly (Former Men's Asst. Coach, Catholic University of America) ***Jim Farquhar (Former Monson High School Boys Varsity Coach, NSCAA Licenses)
***Nick Marciano (Girls' Varsity Coach, Palmer High School)
***Jack Cawley (Former Westfield State Women's Coach) ***Tom Pereira (Girls' Varsity Coach, Frontier High School)

and many others!

These head coaches are backed up by a cadre of excellent assistant coaches and team managers whose contributions to excellence are every bit as important as other aspects of our program.

Player Development Program

In keeping with our commitment to quality player development at all stages of a player's growth, as well as to success at the highest levels of competition, Western United F.C. has implemented a program of technical, tactical and athletic development that will be put into place in the upcoming 2001-2002 soccer year. It includes:

***Technical, Tactical and Athletic Standards for each age group. (See "Skills Standards" page) We will be identifying, with the assistance of our coaching board, a system of minimum technical and tactical skills that should be trained at each level. Athletic preparation appropriate to each age level will also constitute an important part of our program. Realizing that each team emphasizes different skills in training, Western United F.C. will reinforce these standards with a series of…

***Club-wide Development Sessions. We will be offering training sessions on specific skills, exclusively for Western United F.C. players, throughout the year. We will attempt to address the needs of all our players, and individual players may certainly request specific training topics.

***College Advisory Board. With so many of our players at top collegiate soccer programs throughout the country, we have gained a lot of experience on helping you find a program that is right for you. In order to help our players and their family with the often difficult task of finding a college soccer program that fits the individual, we have established a College Advisory Board of many coaches from local, regional and national programs who are willing to advise our Club on aspects of this process. We will be holding a "College Night" each fall, as well as strategy sessions for our players and their families.

***Written Feedback to Players. Any player interested in a written evaluation of their performance during the year may request one from their coach after completion of that year's State Cup competition.

There is much more to come on the development front! So keep watching this page! And we would welcome your input about ways in which we can improve our Player Development Program.