FC Westchester...

 

The club’s coaching staff includes such top coaches as David McCollum, winner of five state cup championships and a former professional player in Germany; Sean Kenny, coach of two FCW youth national championship teams and winner of an NCAA Division 1 championship ring with St. John’s University; Boris Bandov, a 10-year starter with the U.S. National Team and member of the famous New York Cosmos; Chris Gonzalez, a coach at Iona College who took an FC Westchester U18 team to the inaugural U.S. Soccer Development Academy National Finals in 2008; Jorge Porras, an Olympic Games performer who played with the Colombian National Team and was a long-time professional player in Colombia;  Ricardo Lyon, a former Chilean national team performer who played professionally in Chile; Edgar Quiroga and James Quiroga, winner of multiple state cup championships; Carlos Casas, a long-time successful youth coach who played at Boston College; Niall Archbold, a former professional player in Ireland who has coached collegiately; and others with extensive playing and college and ODP coaching credentials.

The FC Westchester ’96 Boys and ’97 Boys were both victorious in their opening matches Friday at the US Youth Soccer Region I National Championship Series being held in West Virginia.  The ’96 Boys topped Team America from Virginia 4-0, while the ’97 Boys beat Hockessin Thunder of Delaware 1-0.

The recent success of FC Westchester -- three state cup finalists, two state cup winners and two teams in the U.S. Soccer Development playoffs -- was the topic of a front page sports section story on 6/25/09 in the Journal-News.

For the article, click on this link:  http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009906250411

CHICAGO (June 18, 2009) -- The field for the 2008-09 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs has been set, as the top 32 teams in both the U-15/16 and U-17/18 age groups have earned their place in Greensboro, N.C., from June 26-29   A total of 46 different clubs will be represented at the Academy playoffs with 18 clubs -- including FC Westchester -- qualifying in both the U15/16 and U17/18 age groups.

Two FC Westchester teams -- the U12 ’97 Boys and the U13 ’96 Boys -- have captured US Youth Soccer Eastern New York Championship Cup titles, with the ’97s topping the Manhattan Kickers in a penalty shootout and the ’96s beating HBC of Long Island 3-2.

For the latest udpate on tryouts, go to the Tryout Link on top of this page. Any questions, please email lonnyu@optonline.net

The FC Westchester ’96 Boys won the Blue Division of the U13 USYSA Northeast Premier League.

The '96s finished the NERP regular season atop its division with 19 points out of 7 games (6 wins, 1 tie), 5 points clear of the Manhattan Kickers ’95 (4 wins, 1 tie, 2 losses) and BW Gottschee Celeste II (3 wins, 4 ties). The ’96s topped the Kickers Saturday 2-0.
 

In U.S. Soccer Development Academy action Sunday at Purchase College, the FC Westchester U18s topped Red Bull New York 4-2, while FCW's U16s came back to tie Red Bull 2-2.

In the U18 match, FC Westchester opened up a 2-0 lead at halftime off of goals by Stepjan Bandov and Marjan Jurac. After Red Bull pulled a goal back early in the second half, FCW's Thomas McNamara scored two goals within 10 minutes to clinch the game for FC Westchester.

In the U16s, FC Westchester gave up two goals late in the first half, but pulled one back just after the Red Bulls second goal on a bullet fired into the upper 90 by FCW striker Hiroki Kobayashi off a feed from Keegan Carter. Then, midway through the second half, Cesar Ceja took a through ball from Ryan McNamara and hit a outside of the foot shot down low to even the score at 2-2, a score that would last until the end of the match.

The FC Westchester 1994 Boys topped the defending age group national champions NJSA Gunners 2-0 in the semi-finals and then went onto the top New York state rival Bayside 3-2 in overtime in the finals to take home the championship trophy at the 2009 Ultimate Spring Kick Off Cup sponsored by the Dix Hills Soccer Club.

FC Westchester will be one of a dozen premier clubs that will have its U14 and U15 teams take part in the new Northeast Pre-Academy League, a league designed to get players ready to take part in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. The new league, announced today by US Club Soccer, is set to kick off in February 2009.

Tom McNamara of the FC Westchester U18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy team and Cesar Ceja of the FCW U16 Academy team have been selected to take part in upcoming U.S. Youth National Team camps being held in California.

McNamara will be heading to a 72-player U18 camp in late December.  Earlier in the month, Ceja will be taking part in the U15 National Camp, where 32 players were called in by U15-Boys National Team coach Jim Barlow.  That camp will take place Dec. 7-14 at U.S. Soccer's National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. .

At the recent adidas FC Westchester Columbus Day Tournament, the FC Westchester ’96 Boys team held a fundraising event that collected nearly $3,500 to help teammate Lucas Goldbaum, who is suffering from brain stem cancer.  For more information and pictures go to the news section of this website or click on continue...

In a game nationally-televised on ESPNU, the FC Westchester U18 team beat CASL of North Carolina. FC Westchester outlasted CASL in penalty kicks, 5-4, after playing to a 1-1 draw in the Under-18 placement match.

FC Westchester's success in reaching the National Finals of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy is featured in two segments on U.S. Soccer's Studio 90.

To see segment 1 CLICK HERE

To see segment 2 CLICK HERE

 

F.C. Westchester is among a select number of clubs that have been chosen by the US Soccer Federation to be a U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy program, a revolutionary initiative that started in 2007-08. The program is designed to extend the Federation’s National Team program, putting an emphasis on the development of the player by improving their daily environment.

The Journal-News on January 30th, 2008 contained a feature article on FC Westchester’s selection by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to be a U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

For the full story, CLICK ON CONTINUE...

FC Westchester is featured in a July issue of Soccer America.  To see the article, CLICK HERE

FC Westchester is a premier level soccer club based in Westchester County, NY that provides a unique opportunity for serious, skilled and dedicated soccer players. Designated a U.S. Soccer Development Academy by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the Club was formed in 1984 as a non-profit organization by Coach Al Pastore, who went on to be a national Youth Coach of the Year and is now in the Eastern NY Soccer Hall of Fame.

The primary mission of FC Westchester is to provide its players with the opportunity to compete at the highest level of competition throughout the United States. We have U11-U18 boys’ teams and a U12 girls’ team.

On the boys’ side, U16 and U18 teams play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League, the highest level of  youth soccer competition in the country.  Our U14 and U15 teams compete in the Northeast Pre-Academy League, while our U12s, U13s and U17s play in premier leagues.  Our youngest teams play in the Westchester Youth Soccer League (WYSL).