The Latest Score Issue #9

Dear Seacoast United Families and Friends,

With cooler temperatures setting in and the leaves turning, I trust all of you are having an enjoyable fall season and are looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday. This has been a year of milestones for Seacoast United Sports Club both in New England and across the country.

The ‘Nate Hardy Memorial Day Tournament’ in New Hampshire and ‘Coastal Summer Challenge’ in Maine served as the perfect finale for the 2021-22 season and featured more than 360 boys and girls teams. Girls Academy had several age groups compete against the nation’s most talented teams at the Girls Academy Showcase in California, while the Boys Academy program participated in the MLS Next Academy Showcase in Texas.

The Seacoast United Phantoms participated in the United Soccer League Two (USL 2), the highest level of soccer Seacoast United offers. My colleague Alex Ryan, a former USL 2 player and fellow Newcastle upon Tyne native, guided the Phantoms to their most successful season in program history in his second year as coach. Alex came to us as a player in 2014, and to see him now making a difference in the lives of many young men is extremely rewarding. I’d like to extend my thanks to Alex, Paul Baber, the players and interns who made the season extremely memorable.

Over 10 weeks this summer, we hosted over 100 soccer camps across Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts featuring more than 5,000 players. I’d like to extend my gratitude to the staff for all their hard work this summer. They bring so much joy to these young players and this was many campers’ first interaction with Seacoast United. I hope because of our staff’s commitment and care, they all had a fantastic summer and are now enjoying their fall season.

That momentum is showing no signs of slowing down. In September, we hosted more than 1,800 players, coaches and family members at Gillette Stadium for Fall Soccer Fest. Seacoast also hosted more than 550 teams between the Capitol Cup (NH) and Ocean Cup (MA) over Columbus Day weekend. My thanks go to Tom Greenaway, Rachel Gagnon, the 3STEP Sports Ops Team and all of our dedicated coaches and staff.

Sports are the perfect vehicle to make a difference in people’s lives both on and off the field. There’s no greater example than the 17th annual Jarkko Tuominen Golf Tournament held by the United Sports Foundation in honor of my late friend and former Nike Soccer employee. This year’s event, held at The Links at Outlook in South Berwick, Maine, had incredible weather, great golf and generous sponsors. The United Sports Foundation added more than 350 ‘Jarkko Scholars’ recipients and will award more for the spring of 2023 because of those contributions.

As we prepare for indoor and wrap up 2022, I think back to 1992 and the first two Seacoast United club teams. I always knew that our organization, no matter the size, would go on to do amazing things, but I never thought it would reach these heights. An organization is only as good as its people and we are fortunate to have had incredible coaches throughout the years and genuine teachers of sport and life. I know the last 30 years brought a lot of smiles, joy and pride.

Someone recently asked me how many kids have played for Seacoast since its inception. I really had to step back and think about it. To consider how many athletes went on to have families, do incredible things in the workforce and have an impact in their community over the last three decades is truly special.

On behalf of everyone at the club, thank you for being part of Seacoast United.

Kind Regards, Paul Willis

OUR CLUB

For Seacoast United, the passion among its directors, players and fans helped turn a small New Hampshire soccer club into one of the most successful soccer organizations in the country.

The club was founded in 1992 with the simple mission to advance the physical and social well-being of kids and adults through competitive soccer. Seacoast United has grown exponentially ever since.

It started with two teams and evolved into multiple locations spanning from northern Maine to Rhode Island. What was once a handful of members now includes nearly 10,000 active soccer players. The club expanded from just two fields to several world-class indoor and outdoor facilities. Seacoast United has built a reputation among community and business leaders for creating more than just championship soccer teams.

The impact of Seacoast United Soccer Club can be felt both on and off the field and, increasingly, around the world. Seacoast United teams are designated for league play within the MLS Next and Girls Academy League, Development Player League (DPL) and National League Pro, National League and New England Club Soccer League (NECSL). The Seacoast United Phantoms participate in the United Soccer League League Two (USL 2) as well.

Making a difference in people’s lives, on and off the field

With access to the nation’s largest network of dentists, we’ll help your team win the day with a healthy smile.

A DECADE OF EXCELLENCE

Seacoast United’s partnership with Exeter Health Resources is ingrained into the community at every turn. The relationship began more than a decade ago. Seacoast needed quality trainers on site for events, aiming to have a framework in place to provide injured players with the best care in the region. Exeter Hospital, conveniently located between Seacoast’s Epping and Hampton locations, was a natural fit.

As Seacoast grew, so did the partnership. Exeter Hospital and Core Orthopedics played a leading role in helping Seacoast offer customers a best-in-class strength and conditioning curriculum for team training during winter months. The Exeter Hospital and Core Physicians Sports Medicine Team includes surgeons and sports medicine physicians and providers in orthopedics, podiatry and physiatry and spine care, along with physical and occupational therapy and athletic training.

By 2014, Exeter Hospital and Seacoast opened up a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center in Seacoast’s Hampton facility. The group now stakes its claim to roughly 8,500 square feet in the Hampton Facility, joining forces on gym space shortly thereafter, and both Seacoast and Exeter Hospital work together as leaders in community engagement throughout the region. In 2017, a 55,000-square-foot indoor space was added onsite at the Seacoast United Sports Complex in Epping, NH and Exeter Hospital took up a second satellite space within that facility.

Joe Bernard, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, has been a sports medicine physician with Core Orthopedics since 2007 and an integral part of the relationship with Seacoast United since it began in 2012. Dr. Bernard grew up in Maine and played soccer in high school. He is board certified in family medicine and sports medicine. Dr. Bernard is also a credentialed ImPACT consultant with specialized training in the latest concussion management tools available and has experience managing concussions at all levels of sports participation.

Below, Dr. Bernard explains how the organizations work together.

How did the partnership with Seacoast United get started?

JB: Our partnership started with athletic trainers covering tournaments and some of the games to assess any potential injuries that happened during play, and providers were available to see patients in the office if the injuries needed follow up.

Additionally, I used to do preseason educational talks with Kim Carpenter, an athletic trainer who has devoted much of her time to coverage at Seacoast United. We would talk about topics such as concussions and overuse injuries.

How has the partnership evolved over time?

JB: In recent years, we set up regular weekly injury clinics during the fall and spring sports seasons with a doctor and athletic trainer, often myself and Kim Carpenter. The coaches refer players for screenings, where we give advice or recommend additional medical services if needed.

As Seacoast United has grown over the years, it’s become impossible to cover all the games as we’ve traditionally done. Now, we plan to have athletic trainers offering Saturday screening clinics on game days. Additionally, this year we are becoming more formally involved with the Academy teams, improving our Monday night injury clinics for those athletes and establishing more of a team physician and team athletic trainer model.

We are really excited that we now offer players a Fast Track referral - if a player is injured and needs to be seen in the office, the coaches have a back line phone number they can call at Core Orthopedics to get the player in for a priority appointment.

What can you tell us about Seacoast United’s impact on young players?

JB: Seacoast United does a great job of helping young players evolve as athletes, as well as personally. All three of my kids have played on Seacoast United teams over the years. My son played soccer at the Academy level for a few years and it really strengthened his skills. I’ve enjoyed working with the players for the 10 years of our partnership, and we are looking forward to the start of this new fall season.

GOODS & SERVICES

Auger Building Company Greenland 603-430-9004 www.augerbuildingcompany.com

Back Bay Networks Dover 603-692-5100 www.bbnnh.com

Bill Dube Dover 603-749-5500 www.billdube.com

Carey & Giampa Realtors Hampton 603-929-1100 www.careyandgiampa.com

Chinburg Properties Newmarket 603-868-5995 www.chinburg.com

Coldwell Banker Realty-Lansing Palmer Cohasset 617-312-8266 www.coldwellbankerhomes.com

Consolidated Communications Greenland 800-240-5019 www.consolidated.com

Cornerstone at Hampton Hampton 603-929-6300 www.seniorlivingresidences.com

Doucet Survey Newmarket 603-659-6560 www.doucetsurvey.com

Fences Unlimited, Inc. NH 800-892-0456 www.fencesunlimited.com

Gatchell Excavation Epping 603-679-2668

Great North Property Management Exeter 800-639-7309 www.greatnorth.net

Heritage Home Service NH 603-601-3974 www.justcallheritage.com

Heritage Home Service MA 978-216-4408 www.justcallheritage.com

Huckleberry’s Candies Hampton 603- 926-5061 www.huckleberryscandies.com

Irving Oil Portsmouth 888-310-1924 www.irvingoil.com

Kalil & LaCount Rye 603-964-1414 www.ryelaw.net

Market Reach Nashua 603-645-1300 www.mreach.com

Millennium Printing Corporation Weymouth 781-337-0002 www.mpcprinting.com

Oakhurst Dairy Portland 207-772-7468 www.oakhurstdairy.com

New England Pictures Manchester 603-625-8901 www.newenglandpicture.com

Riverworks Printing Greenland 603-431-0900 www.riverworksprinting.com

Sports Recruits Brooklyn, NY 212-414-8417 www.sportsrecruits.com

Stove Shoppe NH 800-892-0456 www.stoveshoppe.com

TGI Worldwide Chicago 312-977-1800 www.worldwidetgi.com

The Cheney Companies Newmarket 603-659-2303 www.cheneyco.com

US Air Force Recruiting Bedford 603-668-1044 www.airforce.com

Waste Management Foxboro 844-279-2502 www.wm.com

Waterstone Properties Needham 781-559-3301 www.waterstonepg.com

RESTAURANTS

401 Tavern Hampton 603-926-8800 www.the401tavern.com

900 Degrees Manchester 603- 641-0900 www.900degrees.com

Airfield Cafe North Hampton 603-964-1654 www.theairfieldcafe.com

Aroma Joe’s Concord 603-715-8109 www.aromajoes.com

Burrito Loco Hampton 603-601-7629 www.burritoloconh.com

Cinco’s Cantina Epping 603-734-2191 www.cincoscantina.com

Dunkin’ Donuts Hampton 603-926-6250 www.dunkindonuts.com

Jersey Mike’s Exeter 603-418-8555 www.jerseymikes.com

Joe’s Meat Shoppe North Hampton 603-964-6152 www.joesmeatshoppe.com

Kona Ice Pelham 603-765-8378 www.kona-ice.com

Las Olas NH/ME 603-418-8901 www.lasolastaqueria.com

Logan’s Run Hampton 603-926-4343 www.logansrunrestaurant.com

New England Pizza Exeter 603-778-9800 www.nepizzaexeter.com

Popover’s NH 603-431-1119/734-4724 www.popoversonthesquare.com

Portsmouth Brewery Portsmouth 603-431-1115 www.portsmouthbrewery.com

The Beach Plum NH 603-433-3339 www.thebeachplum.net

The Press Room Portsmouth 603-431-5186 www.pressroomnh.com

Tino’s Greek Kitchen Hampton 603-926-6152 www.galleyhatch.com

WHYM Craft Pub & Brewery Hampton 603- 601-2801 www.whym.beer Wrap City Epping 603-734-4719 www.wrapcitysandwiches.com

PARTNER BLUE PAGES

APPAREL & EQUIPMENT

NIKE Beaverton 503-671-6453 www.nike.com Soccer.com North Carolina 800-950-1994 www.soccer.com

EDUCATION

Acorn School Stratham 603-778-8285 www.acornschoolnh.org

Berwick Academy South Berwick 207-384-2164 www.berwickacademy.org Brewster Academy Wolfeboro 603-569-1600 www.brewsteracademy.org

Derryfield School Manchester 603-669-4524 www.derryfield.org

Gould Academy Bethel 207-824-7700 www.gouldacademy.org

Governor’s Academy Byfield 978- 465-1763 www.thegovernorsacademy.org

Heronfield Academy Hampton Falls 603-772-9093 www.heronfieldacademy.org

NHTI College Concord 603-271-6484 www.nhti.edu

Portsmouth Christian Academy Dover 603-742-3617 www.pcaschool.org

Sylvan Learning Bedford 603-622-7772 www.sylvanlearning.com

Treehouse School Portsmouth 603-294-0330 www.treehouseschoolnh.com

York County Community College Wells 207- 646-9282 www.yccc.edu

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Anthem BCBS Manchester 800-331-1476 www.anthem.com

Bay Breeze Dentistry Portsmouth 603-610-8765 www.baybreezedentistry.com

Concord Pediatric Dentistry Concord 603-224-1929 www.concordpediatricdentistry.com

Concord Orthodontics Concord 603- 333-2538 www.concordorthodontics.net

CORE Orthopedics Exeter 603-778-7975 www.corephysicians.org

Exeter Hospital Exeter 603-601-7761 www.exeterhospital.com

Flote Hampton 603-418-6518 www.seacoastflote.com

MyEyeDr Hampton 603-926-2722 www.myeyedr.com

NH Family Dental of Seabrook Seabrook 603-814-1640 www.familydentalofseabrook.com

Newmarket Dental Newmarket 603-659-3392 www.newmarketdental.net

Northeast Delta Dental Concord 603-223-1000 www.nedelta.com

OrangeTheory Fitness Bedford 603-686-8287 www.orangetheoryfitness.com

OrangeTheory Fitness Dover 603-347-8002 www.orangetheoryfitness.com

OrangeTheory Fitness Portsmouth 603-466-7486 www.orangetheoryfitness.com

Perfect Ten Training Bedford 603-606-2142 www.perfecttentraining.com

Pure Barre Bedford Bedford 603-218-3817 www.purebarre.com

Seacoast Periodontics & Dental Implants Portsmouth 603-294-0110 www.rosaniadmd.com

FINANCE

Blue Water Mortgage Corporation Hampton 603-926-9695 www.bluewatermtg.com

Cross Insurance NH/MA/ME 781-914-1054 www.crossagency.com

Kennebunk Savings Kennebunk 207-467-2880 www.kennebunksavings.com

Merrimack Savings Concord 603-225-2793 www.mcsbnh.com

Wealth Enhancement Group Boston 617-695-2100 www.wealthenhancement.com

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Fairfield Inn and Suites

Exeter 603-772-7411 www.marriott.com

Hampton Inn & Suites Exeter 603-658-5555 www.hamptoninn.hilton.com

Holiday Inn Portsmouth Portsmouth 603-431-8000 www.holidayinn.com

Ocean Properties Limited Portsmouth 855-278-2516 www.oplhotels.com

OPAL Portsmouth 866-258-7247 www.opalcollection.com

EventConnect Ontario, Canada 888-723-2064 www.roomroster.com

THE SUCCESS OF SEACOAST UNITED

‘Everybody’ said the club would fail. Here’s how SUSC proved them wrong.

Kim Foley and the rest of Seacoast United’s staff were in a race against time. Ten hours remained before Seacoast planned to open its Hampton facility in November 1997, a decision that altered the trajectory of the organization, and work remained before the town awarded them an occupancy permit. Nets needed to be hung, finishing touches applied.

So Foley, who is now Seacoast’s Director of Operations, did what became the ethos for Seacoast in the early days of the club-she found a way.

Foley, a decorated amateur soccer player and the second all-time leading scorer at the University of New Hampshire, found herself sitting atop a cherry lift, despite no background operating machinery, helping attach nets to the ceiling as the clock wound down.

“It was down to the wire,” Foley said. “That’s (Seacoast founder) Paul Willis all the way. The glass is half full all the time, you know? We were doing everything needed to get open.”

Seacoast launched 30 years ago, fielding just a pair of boys club teams in the spring of 1993. Today, Seacoast spans three states, fields hundreds of teams and thousands of athletes each year, cementing itself as one of New England’s largest sports organizations.

This is Seacoast’s story. Many credit the unwavering belief of Willis, even when others in the region doubted his vision. Willis and Ian Burgess, the club’s vice president, made shrewd real estate decisions early that helped shape the future of Seacoast.

“A lot of it was figuring it out along the way, a lot of it was having faith in us, and a lot of it was having faith in the sport,” Willis said. Willis and Burgess were joined by their connection to West Virginia Wesleyan, where both played collegiately, laying the foundation for a partnership that has spanned three decades.

West Virginia Wesleyan

Willis first played for Wesleyan in the mid ‘80s, later taking on a recruiting role in the university’s admissions office that required him to move to New Hampshire.

Paul Willis: I was covering the school for two years in New England and living out of a hotel, so they allowed me to move up here.

Burgess, meanwhile, was playing for Wesleyan at this time. His younger brother, David, followed the same path and is now Seacoast’s Director of Facilities.

Ian Burgess: I had known Paul throughout my college career because he’d jump into our training sessions and have a beer and a crack afterwards as well.

David Burgess: There’s a little bit of folklore with Paul of where he’s been and what he’s done … He was captain of (West Virginia Wesleyan’s) soccer team and I think he’s in the Hall of Fame at Wesleyan two or three times for the impact that he had. He’s just got a drive and a personality that he just keeps going.

Upon moving to New Hampshire, Willis met Mike Noonan, the head coach at the University of New Hampshire at the time and currently the head coach of Clemson, which won the national championship in 2021. Both men acknowledged a lack of club soccer opportunities in the area. For Noonan, a connection to a burgeoning local club helped fuel his recruiting efforts at New Hampshire.

Sensing an opportunity, Willis and Noonan created two boys teams in 1992 at the U14 and U16 level. They quickly had success.

Mike Noonan: In our first year, we won a couple state championships. We thought it was going to take us four, five, even six years to do that.

Seacoast expanded to five boys teams by 1995. Noonan had taken the Brown head coaching job by then. Willis had since left West Virginia Wesleyan to work for a software company, and the company asked him to move full-time to Canada.

Willis: I just got this idea in my head what would happen if I went fulltime (with Seacoast United)?

Noonan: If Paul Willis is involved, you knew it was going to grow and continue growing. He’s a fantastic visionary.

Kim Foley: Paul is definitely a no-means-yes guy. He really doesn’t take

no for an answer. He’ll keep pushing, pushing, pushing. He’s incredibly persuasive.

Willis spurned the offer to move to Canada, instead committing to Seacoast full-time on March 1,1996. Willis dove head-first into camps and coaching, growing Seacoast’s club business to 12 teams.

Willis: No salary, nothing in the bank, just an idea that we could take this a little bit further.

With the help of Brint Shone, Willis grew Seacoast United. But the approval of the Hampton Indoor Arena meant he needed to find someone with a shared vision.

Enter Ian Burgess, who at the time was completing his master’s degree, was an assistant coach at West Virginia Wesleyan and also coached a club team in West Virginia.

Willis: I needed someone who was smart, hardworking, passionate about coaching soccer. We didn’t interview anybody. I didn’t speak to anybody else. Ian was the person I had to speak to.

There was just one problem. Burgess was contemplating finishing his PhD-he had an engineering background and his father was a professor in England at Lancaster University-and moving home. But Burgess’ wife had family in the Boston area and suggested they take a visit in the summer of 1996.

Ian Burgess: Paul absolutely sold me 1,000 percent. There was a men’s soccer game going on outside a brewery on a gorgeous day in New Hampshire and we stopped for beers afterwards and I just went ‘forget going back to England, I’m going to stay here.’

I did ask Paul to promise me the opportunity that I’d like to finish my PhD. Full disclosure: I haven’t set foot in a classroom ever since.

The Hampton Facility

Burgess arrived in August 1996, three months ahead of the planned opening of the Hampton indoor facility. Building and filling the 39,000-square-foot facility became a critical mission for Seacoast United-both in terms of short-term survival and longterm prospective.

Ian Burgess: Paul educated me very quickly that if we didn’t make this successful right from the start, we’re in a bit of trouble.

Willis: We had September and October to not only finish building the facility, but to fill it when people didn’t play soccer.

Ian Burgess: We worked from Paul’s house in Rye for about a week. Then we got a trailer on the land that was being developed for the indoor facility. That was before they poured the concrete just when they were starting to clear and level the land. We sat every day in our trailer, trying to turn over every stone to get people to play soccer, watching the arena get built next to us. It was quite exciting.

Willis: We had to try and convince people that this wasn’t like you had to give up (another sport) to play soccer, you could do it once a week, just like you do in the fall.

Foley: We were individually calling anyone and everyone to put teams together … It was a lot of cold calling.

Willis: Everybody said we’d fail. They said we didn’t have the population, we didn’t have the interest. They’d say you have the Atlantic Ocean to the east and we’re New Hampshire, we’re next to Maine. You’re idiots.

Foley: Paul always shielded at least me from worrying…I know for a fact there were times he didn’t take a paycheck, so that I could get a paycheck. So, he’s definitely the ultimate optimist. It’s definitely one of the reasons why it was so successful back then.

Willis: You had to try and do everything. Ian and I, from the get-go, in addition to men’s and women’s leagues, we used to do two little nippers classes-three-year-olds with their parents.

Ian Burgess: We put co-ed teams together of people who never played soccer before … the average age was probably 35 to 40.

Willis: I guarantee if you lived in our area, at that age, you would’ve played in our co-ed league.

Ian Burgess: Oh god, it was our biggest yet.

Willis: It was fun. People realized it was fun and then you improved. We used to do skill sessions-fitness through soccer-so you would come and we would teach you. No one else was doing it.

Ian Burgess: That’s the kind of atmosphere we created…We started by not making it competitive, but fun, relaxed, enjoyable.

Seacoast opened the Hampton Facility on Nov. 1, 1997.

Foley: We barely got it open. I think we got the occupancy permit within like 10 hours of kickoff time.

Seacoast United 30 th Anniversary

Ian Burgess: We felt confident based on our background and our history growing up, that it’s a fantastic sport.

Foley, who played on the USA youth national team growing up, joined as a full-time staffer in 1997 after playing for the University of New Hampshire. She coached Seacoast’s first girls high school team and played an integral role in growing the club’s girls program.

Foley: Back then, towns were like, what’s club? You’re taking my best player. It took a lot of educating town programs, probably in every sport, that it’s a pathway for a better kid to play.

Willis: Business boomed, buoyed by expanding recreational offerings and steady growth on the club side.

Foley: I had pretty high expectations. Parents pay a lot of money for their kid to come to practice, like they’re not there to goof off and do cartwheels. I think the girls like that. There’s a way to get them to run through a brick wall without being mean.

Willis: If you don’t look after the rec [league], they [kids] don’t play soccer, there was limited town travel, forget clubs like Seacoast United. So, we were always trying to connect the dots and making sure we were doing coaching clinics. If somebody’s there to try and help you and teach you a couple of things, community was a big part for us.

Rapid Expansion

Seacoast nearly doubled Hampton’s indoor space within two years of opening, expanding to almost 70,000 square feet. Seacoast turned its attention to an outdoor field space to continue its expansion.

Ian Burgess: We recognized before any other soccer club, possibly even in the country, that if we have our own fields, we can create our own destiny.

David Burgess: There’s a little bit of ‘we’ll build it, they’ll come’ mentality. We’ve always tried to do it within our means.

Finding a site wasn’t simple. Seacoast needed acreage, but also a location that made sense. They honed in on Epping, New Hampshire, a bit of an unusual choice at the time, but conveniently located on Route 101 between I-93 and I-95 and a connector between Hampton and the Manchester/Concord area. Willis estimated they looked at six or seven sites before finding the right location, which is now home to the flagship Epping facility.

This move would make Seacoast one of the few, clubs in the area with its own indoor and outdoor facility.

Willis: It was trial and error, it wasn’t immediate. We tried it, we failed. We couldn’t get through. We did this and that. We found this piece of land in Epping, got it approved, and we built four full-sized turf fields with lights and that was the next adventure for our club to take off.

Ian Burgess: We built the outdoor facility for our club development to make sure that we got our kids the best opportunity and surrounded them with the best coaches. That still wasn’t going to pay our bills, so to grow the club we had to make the event business big.

As Seacoast’s popularity grew, so too did its geographical footprint. Seacoast added locations in Kingston, Concord, Bedford, and eventually expanded into Massachusetts and Maine. The connective tissue between different locations? A belief that connecting with the community was paramount to filling its facilities.

David Burgess: It couldn’t be a perfect replication, but the principle of splitting the field up in half and doing three-and four-year-old kids on one side and then five-and-six on the other and allowing more families and more kids, we still do that to that day.

Foley: Paul, he’ll always say, be nice to people. We just want to see the kids have fun. We’re pretty good about having people in charge of different areas to kind of manage the communities and be a partner. Whether that’s just being a resource or boots on the ground for camps. We’ve gotten really good at what that looks like.

The club also identified opportunities within other sports, using their size and scale to enter the field hockey space before competitors could.

Ian Burgess: We started a field hockey league indoors which nobody had done in our region before, creating some relationships with some of the local moms who didn’t understand the world of club sports, but they were trying to create more opportunities for their own daughters.

Seacoast later added baseball and lacrosse to its portfolio.

Ian Burgess: Paul’s son played baseball, and baseball was backward thinking in terms of development. It was just (AAU), the training was so boring, it stunted growth, so we said why don’t we ‘soccerize’ baseball a little bit, so we created our own baseball club.

David Burgess: If you asked me, you know, 10 or 15 years ago that we would be running clubs and working with families down south of Boston, and three hours north up in Bangor, I would have said you were crazy.

Noonan: It was a grassroots effort on the part of parents, coaches, players, and local government. We had to knock on a lot of doors and sometimes those doors were slammed shut, but it wasn’t just Paul or I got turned away, we’d find someone who could open the door for us. It was fantastic.

Ian Burgess: We made sure that we worked our socks off to develop and grow, and then everything just kind of steamrolled after that.

Today, Seacoast United supports over 230 teams and 3,500 players annually. In addition to its roots in the soccer world, it continues to support field hockey, lacrosse, baseball and softball as part of their youth sports ecosystem.

In August of 2021, Seacoast was acquired by 3STEP Sports. The acquisition has allowed Seacoast to continue to grow its footprint, add resources and enhance the experience for Seacoast athletes in New England.

The club has remained true to its ethos of advancing the physical and social well-being of kids and adults through competitive soccer.

Willis: You don’t have to be that great. If you think about these co-ed leagues or the women’s leagues… one, you’re getting exercise; two, you’re getting camaraderie; three, you’re not getting evaluated.

The impact of Seacoast United is felt across much of New England and beyond. What started as a small idea has turned into one of the most impactful youth organizations in the country.

Noonan: Anytime you see a Seacoast kid, whether we’re competing against them or I’m recruiting them to come to Clemson now, there’s a lot of pride in that.

Ian Burgess: We both were so used to working hard and creating relationships with people, that’s how it all started. As Paul will tell you it was a little bit of luck, but a lot of really hard work and his vision got it going and we just jumped on whatever we could. Ever since then we’ve grown and continued smashing, really.

30 YEARS OF IMPACT

NIKE PARTNERSHIP

Seacoast United has worked with Nike for over 25 years, a relationship that surpasses many professional clubs, leagues and associations around the world. Joe Elsmore, former senior director of North America soccer sports marketing for Nike, the late Jarkko Tuominen, and Michael O’Connor of WeGotSoccer, played an important role in developing the relationship.

INTERNATIONAL TOURS

Seacoast United sent its first team abroad in 1996. That trip to England included a visit to Newcastle upon Tyne, Paul Willis’ hometown, and was the first of dozens of trips around the world for Seacoast athletes and families. The club has sent more than 1,500 players abroad.

THE HARDY FAMILY

The Hardy family is a bedrock of Seacoast’s story over the last three decades. Dr. Steve Hardy was one of the club’s founding coaches and its first president. His wife, Donna, is a fierce advocate for the club. They had three sons: Josh, Ben and Nate. Ben played on Seacoast’s first team in 1992 and was the club’s first collegiate All-American. Nate, who was on the first Seacoast team to take a trip abroad in 1996, later served the United States as a Navy Seal Team Six member. He was tragically killed while deployed in Iraq in 2008. Nate is remembered throughout the club via the Nate Hardy International Scholarship, the Nate Hardy Memorial Day Tournament, and Seacoast later dedicated Field 1 at the Epping Complex in his name. Steve, Ben and Nate are all members of Seacoast’s Hall of Fame.

ACCOMPLISHED ALUMNI

Seacoast’s player development has produced dozens of nationally acclaimed athletes. Charlie Davies was the first Seacoast player to sign a professional contract, later playing for the US Men’s Senior National Team and the New England Revolution. On the women’s side, Rachel Hill played for USA’s U-20 and U-23 teams, and currently plays for the Chicago Red Stars (NWSL).

Seacoast United 30 th Anniversary

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Phantom Fortress

The numbers behind the Seacoast United Phantoms’ unprecedented USL League Two run in 2022 were staggering. Seacoast made its deepest postseason run in club history, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. The Phantoms were one of the last eight clubs standing among the 113 programs in the league, and won 14 games overall, posting the highest-ever points total for a team in the Northeast Division, which they won for the third time.

The Phantoms made the Epping Complex their fortress. They won every home game and allowed just two goals at home all season.

Yet, despite all the impressive statistical accolades, head coach Alex Ryan said the two keys at the heart of Seacoast’s successful run were two things far less quantifiable: Camaraderie and togetherness.

“I think that was key and what managed to make us most successful,” Ryan said.

The togetherness showed up in one particular moment early in the season against Vermont Green FC in early June-a harbinger of things to come.

Phantoms forward Matthew Black left the team for some time to deal with a personal matter back home in the United Kingdom. He returned ahead of the June 4 road matchup against Vermont Green FC, but Ryan “hemmed and hawed” about whether Black was ready to rejoin the lineup without much time to return to speed.

Ryan ultimately went with his gut and played Black. Naturally, Black came off the bench to score the game-winning goal on his first touch of the game, his lone goal of the season.

The team erupted in support of Black, which Ryan said was one of the most memorable moments in a season chock full of them.

Those types of postgame wins meant music in the locker room after. The team gelled and especially enjoyed “living in the moment,” Ryan noted, buying in for their teammates. No deficit was too undaunting for the Phantoms.

“We kept coming back from a goal behind and I think there was a bit of confidence and buzz about the group once they had a sense of belief they could win every game in front of them,” Ryan said.

He added they took pride in their approach to the game.

“I think it’s a bit of a blue-collar attitude, but also there was an enjoyment if you look at the way I tried to address the sessions and the group,” Ryan said. “I was trying to have an impact on the soccer ability, but I was always trying to make it fun.”

There’s plenty to build on for next year. The Phantoms featured 10 players from Seacoast’s boys academy. They also had two players named to the Eastern Conference Team of the Year: Moise Bombito, one of the top defenders in the league, and leading scorer Taig Healy, who finished with a team-high seven goals in the regular season.

PITCH PERFECT

Seacoast United hopes the addition of several key initiatives this year helps both the Girls and Boys Academy programs continue to ascend as they compete among the nation’s top level of soccer. Both programs added a number of new players, implemented brand new residential camps as part of preseason training and unveiled a strength and conditioning program for older athletes.

“As a coaching staff, we’ve been thrilled with the application of the players,” Seacoast United Boys Academy Director Peter Decker said. “We’ve added a number of new players to the program and preseason was a vital time to create chemistry and understanding between them.”

Residential camps were an initiative among both the boys and girls academy programs in 2022. Players from U12 through U14 programs spent three nights at Nichols College, an environment coaches said was conducive to team-building. It also exposed players to a college environment for the first time.

“The overnight camp was a fantastic addition to the program this season,” Decker said. “It was a great opportunity for our players to bond on and off the field. We’ve already seen the benefits in the early weeks of training as a result.”

Seacoast also added a 10-month strength and conditioning training program for U15 through U19 players through its partnership with Core Orthopedics, something Decker said the club wanted to do for years. Such a comprehensive program is unusual for clubs throughout the region and keeps Seacoast on par with some of the top programs across MLS Next.

The curriculum included both on-site training at Seacoast’s facility and drills for players to work on at home.

“It was a massive success both on and off the field,” Girls Academy

Director Chris Scott said.

The year-round approach to player development continues to help individual players take the next step in their careers, too. Boys Academy member Gershom Matimano (2007) recently signed with the New England Revolution after being offered a place in residency with the professional club.

Decker noted Matimano was a member of the Academy program for years.

“No one is more deserving of this amazing opportunity,” Decker said. “We’re extremely proud of him and look forward to following his journey as he looks to achieve his dream of becoming a professional player.”

There’s a similar sentiment on the girls’ side. The Girls Academy League now includes 80 teams and more than 10,000 players across the country, boasting a national footprint and a collective vision for player development. This fall, Seacoast United will enter U12 through U14 teams into league play, while the U15 through U19 programs instead focus on their respective high school seasons.

Scott noted the players seemed eager to return after a summer break from game action. Seacoast United opened its Girls Academy league play schedule on the road against Oakwood SC (CT).

“You always have that excitement and hunger to get started again,” Scott said.

Seacoast’s U13 and U14 Girls Academy teams will head to Westfield, Indiana during the fall season to compete in the Girls Academy East Regional event. Scott said the group is looking forward to the challenge.

“It gives us a great opportunity to pit ourselves against clubs from different parts of the East Coast outside of our own region,” he said.

BUILDING BLOCKS

A fateful meeting around a kitchen table 30 years ago helped lay the initial foundation for Seacoast United, now a national soccer pillar.

Even then, Paul Willis and Mike Noonan sensed opportunity. There were a few well-established soccer clubs throughout New Hampshire, but the Seacoast region remained undeveloped for players seeking a proper club experience.

“There were zero opportunities in this area,” said Willis, noting players needed to drive upwards of an hour to find a place to play.

“If you lived in Portsmouth or Exeter and you were anywhere near good at soccer, you just said I’m a decent soccer player, but I ain’t going to play club.”

So Willis, Noonan and several assistant coaches huddled in Noonan’s kitchen one night. The question: What would happen if we put a couple select teams together?

Seacoast kicked the ball for the first time in 1993. The rest is history.

Steady expansion over the ensuing three decades is the heartbeat of Seacoast, which now spans from Bangor, Maine to Southern Massachusetts and provides opportunities to thousands of athletes across several sports.

No area encompasses the growth quite like Seacoast New Hampshire, the group’s founding region.

Seacoast New Hampshire began with a handful of club teams, utilizing an old field outside Pease Air Force base for outdoor practices. Today, the club spans more than 100 teams between three regions and players can access upwards of seven state-of-the-art facilities, Epping Indoor and Outdoor, Hampton Indoor, Kingston Indoor, Back River Sports Complex, NH SportsDome, NHTI and Concord Indoor.

“To have a competitive club was really the founding principle,” said Noonan, who then coached at the University of New Hampshire and is now the head coach at Clemson.

The club initially focused on select tryouts with a goal of finding and developing high-level players who could potentially play in college, perhaps even at New Hampshire. But that mission quickly evolved following the construction of Seacoast’s Hampton facility in 1997. Filling the facility, often by any means necessary, became a guiding priority for Seacoast.

“The whole idea was that to promote the sport of soccer, you couldn’t just do it with a U12 team with the best 11 players,” Willis said. “You had to try and do everything. Little nippers, leagues, we’d be calling all the over 30 and over 40-year-old leagues, guys who would say they haven’t even played soccer in high school.”

They were right. Co-ed leagues became a staple of Hampton’s programming as the club created varying levels of competition for all ages. Families got hooked. And they kept coming back. Soon, Seacoast needed to expand Hampton, nearly doubling in size. Indoor space led to the need – and gave Seacoast the financial flexibility – to hunt for outdoor field space.

That led to the group developing the Epping Outdoor Complex.

“I’m certain we were the only club in New England that had our own indoor and outdoor facility,” Willis said.

The momentum has only continued. This summer, Seacoast New Hampshire offered more than 40 camps during a nine-week period. This fall, they’ll send teams to compete in MLS Next, Girls Academy, the DPL, EDP National League, NECSL, NHSL and more.

Their goal? To make Seacoast’s 30th anniversary the club’s biggest year-and most memorable-to date.

SUSC

MAINE EVENTS

It was a summer of fun and opportunity for Seacoast Maine.

The prestigious Coastal Summer Challenge, the area’s premier Father’s Day weekend tournament, returned for its 36th year. Seacoast hosted more than 200 teams and is excited the tournament returns to being a regular event on competitive calendars.

The event kicked off a busy summer slate. Seacoast Maine hosted a record number of campers across its various summer camp offerings. Maine North also experienced several strong finishes across the program, highlighted by second-place finishes for its 2006/05 boys and 2008/07 girls teams. Maine North’s 2007 boys team and PDP team were also competitive in the same bracket of the Maine State Premier League.

Seacoast Maine has watched the soccer landscape in New England change over the years. Looking ahead, the group says it is now proud of the level of competition it offers players across the state of Maine.

Now, the group hopes a focus on healthy competition and continual improvement, both on and off the field, will be the catalyst for a successful transition to the fall season as the Premier soccer season

successful transition to the fall season as the Premier soccer season ramps up. Seacoast Maine has 15 teams representing the club across three levels of competition – the NECSL, DPL and National League.

There’s a feel-good factor flowing throughout all of Seacoast Maine’s premier teams, especially since the U9-U14 teams returned to practice. The club’s notable performance at NEFC’s Fall Kick-Off Tournament during its preseason calendar was encouraging, and players received high marks for performance, attitude and work rate across all teams.

The 2012 Elite girls and 2009 DPL girls teams won their respective brackets, and the 2013 Elite Boys nearly did as well, finishing second after losing on penalties in the final.

During the Fall season, Seacoast Maine’s teams will travel throughout New England to play and compete at the highest level possible. Their DPL girls’ teams will play the top teams that rival clubs have to offer, outside of the Girls Academy and ECNL programs, respectively. Their boys teams, meanwhile, will get the chance to compete against the best of the best in the National League or Pre National League, as well as representing the club in the NECSL.

MAKIN’ IT IN MASSACHUSETTS

Seacoast’s Massachusetts programs enter the fall season fresh off their busiest stretch of the year.

Nearly 500 players attended Seacoast MA South’s two residential camps in August. That included six high school teams from across southeast Massachusetts featuring rosters filled with current Seacoast United Players. The teams benefitted from working with MA South’s full-time coaching staff.

A week later, MA South sold out Camp Bournedale to put the finishing touches on summer.

Meanwhile, Seacoast’s MA North program continues to make inroads across communities in its region, forging player pathways in several local towns that include Andover, Newburyport and Georgetown.

Such pathways allow Seacoast to send players from both its MA North and South programs onto their Academy programs.

“This past year, we’ve had several players move onto our Academy teams on both the girls and boys side, as well as numerous players join our Elite Regional teams,” said James Costello, MA North’s director.

A similar sentiment is felt across the MA South program as boys directors Matt Robinson and Gary Nolan continue to build strong ties with Seacoast United MLS Next Director Peter Decker.

A number of boys from MA South’s side were added to Seacoast’s MLS Next rosters, including Myles Laramee and Jackson Dufour (2010), Daragh Hume (2009), Rory Sheridan (2008) and Lucas Silva (2007).

Expect to see Seacoast Massachusetts talent across several levels of play this fall, including NECSL league play, various showcases and tournaments throughout New England and more.

Regional Director Paul Turner shared his excitement about what the rest of 2022 and 2023 will bring for players and families across Massachusetts.

“I could not be more excited to extend many of the programs currently offered to our players,” Turner said.

“We are always seeking to provide the very best opportunities for our entire membership and next year will see lots of new choices. I’ve worked closely with Martyn Hollands, owner and CEO for LFC IA, and we are both looking forward to creating a good working relationship between our two clubs. That includes our very first ‘Futsal Club,’ along with great tour opportunities, as well as taking teams to the Gothia Cup next summer. Those are just some of the things we are currently working on.”

SCENES FROM LABOR DAY

RAZOR SHARP

F or one Saturday afternoon, the stands that typically hold New England Patriots and Revolution revelers were instead painted a sea of volt yellow and Carolina blue. Seacoast United returned to Gillette Stadium’s annual Fall Soccer Fest this September, bringing more than 1,500 people from across New England for a day of fun in Foxborough. Hundreds of Seacoast players from Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire ages 14 and under participated in the event, which included playing on the turf prior to the Revolution’s MLS match against CF Montreal.

Players and their families from Seacoast’s girls and boys programs also received a dedicated tailgate space prior to the game and tickets to the match.

“Seeing hundreds of young kids, having a laugh, playing the sport they love on this iconic field is exactly why we do what we do,” Seacoast United President and CEO Paul Willis said.

The event served as an ideal platform to help commemorate Seacoast’s longstanding relationship with Nike.

“We have been fortunate enough to offer this unique opportunity to some of our club teams in the past, but when we extended the invitation to some nearby clubs we have a good relationship with, we knew this event would top every other one.”

Teams from Seacoast, Best FC and Liverpool FC International Academy all participated in the event, which featured plenty of goals and celebrations during the on-field portion of festivities.

The parking lot also offered a lively scene. Soccer.com made its presence felt, handing out noisemakers and gear to families, who could also purchase apparel on-site via Simax. The Revolution’s mascot, Slyde The Fox, made an appearance as well to take pictures with players and participate in games of soccer darts.

Families raved it was a phenomenal experience and a great day for soccer.

“Soccer really is the beautiful game,” Liverpool FC International Academy MA owner Martyn Hollands said. “To see players of all ages and abilities from multiple clubs come together is truly special.”

FALL

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR

Seacoast United is going international once again. Overseas trips are nothing new for the organization. The club has sent teams on international travel trips for more than 20 years, a tradition that started with a boys team headed up by Paul Willis and Chris LaBerge that visited Willis’ hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Now, it’s partnering with XL Travel to provide a variety of travel options for players and families over the next year.

“International travel is great for our players,” said Paul Baber, Seacoast’s Senior Operations Manager.

“Not only will these trips be a great cultural experience, but players and families will get to see different styles of play, go to live Premier League games and have a chance to bond with teammates.”

From 2015 to 2019 Seacoast United sent over 900 players in Europe thanks to a partnership with the Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, with opportunities ranging from on field experiences, coach/player exchanges, and unique behind-the-scenes interactions with the Academy and men’s and women’s first teams. The one differentiator for Seacoast United compared to other clubs who have done similar trips is that teams of all ages and abilities were given the opportunity to travel and it’s not just the elite teams who are afforded this opportunity. With the pandemic, tours were suspended indefinitely from 2020 to 2022, but plans are well underway for 2023.

XL Travel provides sports-focused packages to a slew of clients ranging from local club teams to some of the biggest universities and Division I athletic programs in the world. A pair of Boston-area soccer coaches founded the group in 2002 after attempting to book an international trip for their team and finding the process arduous.

In February 2023, both the Boys Academy and Girls U14 teams will travel to the United Kingdom to face high-level competition. The boys will travel to Manchester and Liverpool, while the girls trip starts in Scotland before traveling to Manchester.

Seacoast also has a club-wide trip to London planned for all 2012 Boys and Girls teams. They will train at St. George’s Park, home of the England National team, while playing local teams. The groups will also tour London and watch a live Premier League game.

A similar tour is planned in April for boys in the Seacoast Express program.

In the summer of 2023, older teams/players will have the opportunity to travel to the Gothia Cup (Sweden). The Gothia Cup is the world’s largest international youth football tournament. Each year, around 17,00 teams from 80 nations take part and they play 4,500 games on 110 pitches.

“We’re excited to offer both our players and families an experience of a lifetime,” Baber said.

For more information please do not hesitate to reach out to Paul Baber, pbaber@seacoastunited.com.

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