New York City Football Club recently celebrated the completion of the first year of the Coach Mentorship Program.
The nine-month course sought to focus on the three core areas of NYCFC's football business: NYCFC Academy, City in the Community Foundation (CITC) and Youth Programs – with a dedicated three-month course for each pillar of the NYCFC footballing pyramid.
“It was great to have the opportunity to work with the Coach Mentees during their time with NYCFC,” Brian Walsh, Director & General Manager, Youth Soccer Development at New York City Football Club said. “Their enthusiasm and passion for the game showed in all our interactions. I know their experience in program administration and coach delivery will help them in tremendously in their professional journey. I’m very excited to see the program grow in the years to come and the additional opportunities we can provide to local coaches."
Selected as one of five candidates, Oscar Mellado Escobar, acknowledged his growth during the program as well as the confidence taken from the mentoring he received.
“I was pretty much a new coach and I was looking to improve my skills,” he said. “I wanted to look for a program that would help me and benefit me in that way. With NYCFC being the club that's in the city, somewhere close to home. that used to be home, I thought it was a good fit for me, and I applied.”
In 2020, NYCFC announced a series of eleven commitments to support underserved and underrepresented communities, including a pledge to develop a mentorship program aimed to support these populations in the NYC metropolitan area. The tailored program provided the five successful candidates with 180 hours of mentoring and education, with a view to understanding of a coach’s requirements in that field.
“I think the whole experience with the mentorship program has helped me in so many ways,” Oscar added. “I'm more confident on and off the pitch when I'm coaching or thinking about my lesson plans.
“Now, I've worked with the CITC program and with Youth Programs, and it's just been a great experience seeing what NYCFC does within the community.”
As part of the program, NYCFC also fully funded a USSF coaching badge for the candidates. There saw further cause for celebration this month with the news that all mentees had passed their USSF D License.
“As a club, we were very pleased to announce this initiative last year,” Sam Pugsley, NYCFC Vice President of Sporting Operations and Strategy, “No sport is better for uniting people than soccer. This city has a tremendous number of talented young coaches, and we’ve really appreciated welcoming them into the Club and providing education alongside their enthusiasm as we embarked on this new project. We are looking forward to building this program in subsequent years as we grow our coaching network around the NYC tri-state area.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Beau Morki, US Club Soccer Coach Licensing Technical Lead: “It was a pleasure working with all the coaches and staff at NYCFC. The U.S. Soccer ‘D’ license truly challenges coaches who are striving for excellent in their field. US Club Soccer believes that by providing coaching education opportunities, we can positively impact the experience for an exponential number of players. The coaches in this mentorship program possess growth mindsets, and are hardworking and humble. It’s rewarding to work with a like-minded organization, such as NYCFC.”
You can apply for the 2023 program by clicking here.
