Western United Soccer Club

WUSC Classic Soccer Teams

We are pleased to announce that for the Fall 2020 Season we will have two Classic Soccer Teams, our U14 and U12 Western United Soccer Club Revolution.

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western united soccer club-revolution tryout registration.pdf

Our U14 Western United Soccer Club Revolution (2007 Birthdates or later) will be coached by Robert Price and Ben McDermott. Coaches Price and McDermott are returning for their 4th Season leading the Revolution. U14 means continued full field 11 v 11 competition and the team is looking to build upon their successful 2019 season. We look forward to great things from this team again this fall.

Coach Robert Price- Coach Price began his coaching career 13 years ago at Providence Day coaching Basketball and is currently in his second season as the Head Varsity Basketball Coach for Mountain Island Charter School, which made a very deep playoff run last season. Price began coaching soccer with Western United Soccer Club in 2011 when his son Manny turned 3 and was old enough to play. He took over the U-4 program, adding song and structure, and has matriculated with Manny each year while also coaching daughter Maya. Three years ago along with Coach Ben McDermott, they created the Revolution; a challenge soccer team offering greater competition, with more practice time and a focus on the fall season, allowing young athletes to play other seasonal sports. The two years as Coach of the Revolution has been especially gratifying as the Revolution finished 2nd in their division last season and the Revolution has become a Family. Coach Price also finds times to coach with Mountain Island Lacrosse, Mountain Island Optimist Club lower school Basketball and Coul-oak Softball. Price has been married for 19 years to a wonderful and supportive wife Cara and has two young athletes of his own, Manny and Maya.

Coach Ben McDermott-

Coach McDermott was born and raised in Charlotte, NC, and played his youth soccer with Western United years ago. He loves this organization and thrilled his children are able to play in the same great organization he enjoyed as a kid. He has been coaching with Western United since 2012 when his oldest son, Ben Jr. began his soccer career. Coach McDermott has two other WUSC athletes, Max and Jake, and continues to help coach their teams at the younger age levels. He also coaches baseball for Coul-Oak Little League in the Spring and loves to support and volunteer for our local sports organizations.

Our U12 Western United Soccer Club Revolution (2009 Birthdates or later) will be coached by Donny Rollins and Ian Byrne. Coach Rollins is not only the Director of Coaching for Western United Soccer Club, but is returning for the third season with our U12 Revolution. The U12 Revolution will look to build upon their last two seasons. This team started off two years ago as a U11 team with mostly 8 and 9 year olds and held their own in the first season. With a few new faces last season, they were extremely competitive in a division that was pretty evenly matched all the way through. This year with a more seasoned team, they are looking to challenge for their division.

Coach Donny Rollins- Coach Rollins is quite simply a soccer fanatic. He has been involved in playing and coaching soccer his entire life. Coach Rollins is our Director of Coaching for Western United Soccer Club and coached rec soccer in our U4, U6, and U8 divisions between 2014-2017. Last year he led our U11 WUSC Revolution team and returns for his third season with the Revolution. Coach Rollins has had an extensive playing and coaching career. Coach Rollins grew up in Florida where he played for Cape Coral High School before moving on to play in college at the College of Boca Raton. While there from 1985-1988, Coach Rollins was part of the NAIA National Championship team in 1987 and a member of the State Cup Champions in 1988. After college, Coach Rollins spent three years continuing to play soccer, one with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers practice squad and then playing semi-pro soccer in Vero Beach. He continued to work in the soccer industry at Soccer Madness stores in South Florida and at one time even owned his own soccer specific t-shirt line called Ridi Rojo. He also coached a U11 Select Team in Boca Raton, the Saint Andrews middle school team and the Spanish River High School JV team in the early nineties. His love for soccer continued and he was led back into coaching with us as his son became involved in soccer.

Coach Ian Byrne- Coach Byrne began playing soccer at age 5, and continued actively playing through his freshman season of club soccer at Wake Forest University, when a knee injury ended his competition days. He has been coaching with WUSC since 2013, when his oldest son, Sean, began with the organization. He first coached one team per season, and then moved to two teams when his younger son, Jackson, also began playing. Coach Byrne and Sean were both eager to jump on board when WUSC formed the younger U11 Revolution in its inaugural season, and are excited for another fun-filled year. Coach Byrne enjoys supporting all local youth athletics, also coaching and serving on the Board of CoulOak Little League, as well as helping coach MIOC basketball.

Classic Soccer

NCYSA- North Carolina Youth Soccer Association- Mission Statement for Classic Soccer.
It is the mission of the NCYSA Classic program to provide an environment to foster soccer competition at the highest level: age appropriate development of players who demonstrate talent and commitment with the desire to excel; and an appropriate level of team competition and the values of good sportsmanship to all who participate.

Note about Classic Soccer- Classic Soccer has been referred to as Select, Challenge, Travel Soccer. If you hear or have heard these terms before, they essentially are referring to the same thing. The official label by NYCSA is Classic Soccer.

Western United Classic Soccer
For Western United Soccer Club, (WUSC), our Classic program "WUSC Revolution" allows us to give players that are ready to move beyond rec soccer to continue to develop their games, while playing competitive soccer against talent from the Greater Charlotte and Western North Carolina areas in addition to teams from all around the Southeast when we travel to tournaments. Last season, we competed against teams from Waxhaw to Asheville during the regular season. We also attended two tournaments each year and have been to tournaments in Raleigh/Durham, Greenville, SC, Myrtle Beach, SC and around the greater Charlotte area as well.

In addition to the opportunity to improve play and compete, our program is developing a family atmosphere. Our kids are not only teammates but have gotten to become good friends and so have the families that support the players. In addition, we offer this opportunity at a fraction of the cost of other larger programs in the Charlotte area. We look forward to seeing you soon at tryouts and also as part of our Revolution family!

Important Things to Know
1) Classic Soccer is a commitment. This is not rec soccer, you are part of a competitive team. We train as a team and play as a team and every piece of the team is important. When you commit, you should expect to attend all practices and games. It is hard for coaches to train players and build gameplans if players miss practices and/or games. Our teams will begin training in late summer to prepare for the season and the season starts in late August and goes until just before Thanksgiving. During the preseason, we may practice up to 3 times a week, during the season, practice will be 2 times a week. We do understand sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, but we ask that if something does arise, speak to your coach as soon as possible so they understand the situation and can plan around it.

2) We do not know what teams will be in our division or where they are located. This doesn't just pertain to our club, this is statewide and impacts all Classic Teams. Once all participating clubs have submitted their intent to play and list their Classic Teams, NCYSA pools everyone together and divides the teams by geographical region. Being in a large market like Charlotte, most of the teams for us are typically located in the Greater Charlotte Area, but we could see teams in our division from Greensboro/High Point all the way over to Asheville/Western North Carolina. We have no control over who is put in our division. During the scheduling period, our Administration and Coaches work as hard as possible to create a balanced and fair schedule with the other clubs in our division. A typical regular season is 10-12 games and we try to split home and away as evenly as possible.

3) Game Days- Games are typically played on Saturday's or Sunday's for the most part. If there needed to be a makeup game due to weather, etc. it is possible that a Friday night could be utilized. Game times are based on field availability and availability of the opposing club. Many classic teams have coaches that coach multiple teams and therefore are juggling schedules for multiple teams/games over each weekend.

4)Training- Our training for our teams will be at Shuffletown Park or Mountain Island Charter School.

5) Home Games- Our home games will be held at MICS- Mountain Island Charter School. Our backup field is Shuffletown Park.

6) U13 Rules- U13 is the first year that players are allowed to head the ball. While most players have had some experience heading a ball on their own, it is not allowed either in training or games at the Rec or Classic level prior to U13 soccer. This will be an adjustment but adds another element to the game for our players to learn and perfect and adds additional strategy, especially on set pieces. U13 Classic Soccer is 11 v 11 on a larger field that our younger teams play on. This adds to the fact that our players need to build their speed and stamina, as there will be more area for them to cover and greater space for playmaking. Another change at the U13 level is the ball size. The ball size goes up to a size 5 (a regulation sized soccer ball). Games are 35 minute halfs (an increase of 5 minutes per half from U12 and lower.) Halftime is a maximum of 15 minutes. Maximum roster size allowed is 22, only 18 can dress for games (per NCYSA rules). Our coaches will determine the number of players that make the roster.

7) U12 Rules- No headers are allowed in this division, either in training or in games. U12 Classic Soccer is played on a smaller than regulation field and is 9 v 9. Ball size is Size 4, one size down from regulation soccer balls. Games are 30 minute halves with a maximum 15 minute halftime. Maximum roster size is 16 (per NCYSA rules). Our coaches will determine the number of players that make the roster.

8) Parent Expectations- WUSC expects that our parents will support and encourage our players, will let our coaches coach the games and will respect the decisions made by the referees. NCYSA calls for parents of each club to remain in their teams own half of the field. For example, if WUSC's bench is on the left side of the field, the parents from our club will only sit in that end of the field. Parents are directly across the field from their teams bench. Parents are not allowed behind goals or on the players (bench) side of the field.

9) What is included in the cost for your player?- Your players fee will cover two uniforms for your player, registration fees for two tournaments, administrative costs such as referee fees (refs are paid by the teams for each game they referee, not NCYSA), etc. You will be responsible for any travel costs to games, hotels and food at tournaments etc. There will be no additional costs to play for your players though once you have paid the team fee.

10) What do I need to provide for my player?- You will need to provide soccer cleats, shin guards, and a ball for your player.

11) What is the cost for my player?- Club Fees are $325 per player. Once you are notified that your player has been chosen for the team, you will have ten days to submit payment for the season.

12) Is there anything else needed after team selection?- Yes, our registrar will need to verify your childs birth certificate in order to ensure they qualify to be on the team. You will also need to sign a liability waiver.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any other questions. Thanks!