FC America would like to announce registration details for the 2013 / 2014 Club Programs.

FC America will commence tryouts for FYSA State Cup and Region Cup teams. Tryouts will be held from Tuesday 28^th May to Tuesday 2^nd June.  

“We are excited for the upcoming period as FC America continue to provide a conveyor belt to the highest levels of the game for aspiring players from Central Orlando,” said FC America General Manager Graham Munro. “FC America is a club synonymous with quality and professionalism and we look forward to continuing to provide a platform for players to reach the highest level of the game.”

FC America has assembled an unrivaled coaching staff for the 2013 / 2014 season that includes FYSA State Championship winning coaches, highly respected local coaches and a collection of nationally licensed coaches from the UK as the club continues to provide the optimum player development experience for players in Central Orlando.

“At FC America we have assembled our strongest ever coaching staff as we look forward to the 2013 / 2014 season,” said Munro. “The knowledgebase, qualifications and previous success of our coaching staff places FC America as the premier club soccer option in the Central Flroida region.”

Please see below for full registration details. Please note that the Junior Premier Program is open registration for all players. Please note for ages U6-U10 the evenings will be used as training evenings.

For more information on FC America please contact the club Main Office on 321-251-4920.

FC America 2013/14 FYSA State Cup & Region Cup Tryout Details (Boys)

FC America 2013/14 FYSA State Cup & Region Cup Tryout Details (Girls)

The coaching assignments include FYSA State Championship winning coaches, National Championship winning coaches, NCAA college coaches, a collection of nationally licensed coaches from the UK, and former NCAA college soccer All Americans amongst others.

“At FC America we pride ourselves on our high level coaching staff and we are excited to announce that we have assembled an unrivaled coaching staff as we look forward to the 2013 / 2014 season,” said FC America President Joe Battista.  “The knowledgebase, qualifications and previous success of our coaching staff places FC America as the premier club soccer option in the Central Florida region.”

In 2013/14, Executive Director of Coaching / Junior Premier Program Director Graham Munro, Senior Girls Director Sal Conigliaro and Senior Boys Director Chris Mills will implement the on-field strategic vision of the club as FC America strive to produce the optimum environment for player development.

After guiding the club in the role of General Manager over the past year, Munro will again head the senior leadership team of the club in the upcoming season.  A former NCAA Division I All American, Munro has seven years experience in a senior coaching and management role in an executive position at Global Premier Soccer.  Munro will also assume the responsibility of JPP Director and will be assisted by Chris Waugh who joins the organization after spending four years at Massachusetts Premier Soccer.

“It is with excitement I look forward to Chris Waugh joining the organization and assisting me with the guidance of the JPP,” said Munro.  “Chris has a passion and a huge amount of experience working with players at the youngest ages and he will have a tremendous impact within our club.”

As one of the longest serving coaches at FC America, Chris Mills will assume the role of Boy’s Senior Director of Coaching (U13-U18) for the upcoming season.  NSCAA State Coach of the Year (2011), Mills has been a cornerstone of the FC America coaching staff for the past five years.  Mills holds his NSCAA Advanced National Diploma and will transition to a full-time role for the upcoming season.

Sal Conigliaro is one of the top returning coaches in the club and will assume a senior leadership role in 2013/14.  In addition to coaching two Premier teams, Conigliaro will oversee coach and player development within the senior girls program of the club.  Conigliaro rounds out a leadership team that brings continuity to the club as FC America return a core of key staff members for the upcoming season.

“We are confident that our leadership team is the strongest as it has ever been as we enter the upcoming season,” said Battista.  “Graham, Chris M and Sal are familiar faces that bring experience and consistency to the club.  Together with Chris W and the rest of our coaching staff, we have a core group who will ensure that the FC America brand continues to be associated with excellence and professionalism.”

The core group of coaches returning for the upcoming season that include former FYSA State Cup winning coaches Jim Maynes and Scott Brody and other key staff members, Jimmy Angeles, Angie Gayo, Declan Link, Dan Nolan, Greg Meehan, Tres Loch, Jen Evans, Nate Micalizio and Krasimir Manev.  Ernest Wiggins will return as the club SAQ coach and Toni White will again serve as the club GK Coach.

New high profile coaches to the club include Rollins Men’s Soccer Assistant Coach Graeme Japp and FIT Assistant Coach Maryann Pitt.

“The collection of coaches will ensure that all players at FC America are placed in the hands of coaches who have proven track records of successfully developing players,” said General Manager Graham Munro.  “We are excited for the upcoming season and look forward to our high level coaches maximizing the potential of each and every player at the club.”

FC America will hold tryouts for the 2013 / 2014 season with registration now open. For more information please click HERE or contact the FC America office on 321-251-4920.

FC America 2013/14 Teams and Coach Assignment

The state of the art turf fields at the Courtland Street facility will be utilized immediately by teams in the club Junior Premier Program (U6-U10). Planning is under way and much of the infrastructure is already in place. XL Soccerworld expect to complete the project in record time.

“The brand new outdoor complex at XL Soccer World will compliment the professional, elite environment that we provide our players at FC America,” said General Manager Graham Munro. “It is with enormous excitement that we look forward to basing players from our Junior Premier Program at this facility as FC America continue to offer the premier club soccer option to players from Central Florida.”

FC America continues to offer an unrivaled program that saw the club place the most teams from any club in Florida in the FYSA State Cup final four with five teams participating this past weekend. The club places significant pride in preparing players for the next levels of the game and creating the optimum environment for player development within all programs.

“FC America commits to providing the best training environment for our players with high level coaching at facilities that accommodate the needs of the developing soccer player,” said Munro. “We look forward to another exciting year in 2013/14 as we remain fully committed to developing players to their full potential.”

FC America is hosting tryouts for the 2013/14 season. To register for tryouts, or for more information, please click HERE.

For more information on playing opportunities at FC America please contact the club office on 321-251-4920.

“We are excited to have the largest representation from any club throughout Florida at the FYSA State Cup final four,” said FC America General Manager Graham Munro. “We look forward to creating an area of the complex where FC America players, families and spectators can mingle together during the course of the weekend.”

The hospitality tent at the complex can be located by migrating towards two recently purchased large FC America feather banners. Available within the tent will be Gatorade and healthy snacks which players are invited to take advantage of.

“We look forward to this weekend and congratulate all teams for advancing to this stage of the competition,” said Munro. “It will be great to see a large turnout from the FC America family this weekend.”

8am FCA BU16 vs Wellington Wave Stadium Field
8am FCA GU17 vs Creeks Clash Field 1
10.30am FCA BU14 vs Florida Fire Juniors Field 7
10.30am FCA BU18 vs Space Coast Field 1
4.30pm FCA GU13 vs Ponte Vedra Field 7

For more information on FC America please contact our office on 321-251-4920

I want to thank you for your continued support as we continue to endeavor to provide the optimum player development environment for our membership.

At this time, I want to address the current situation with Trotters Park field complex and clear up some of the misinformation that is currently being circulated about the complex.

As a bit of historical perspective, Trotters Park first opened in 2003 and FC America has been its primary tenant since inception.  On behalf of our Club and ACYS, I negotiated the original agreement with the City that secured the park for our use and have, since then, been the primary person negotiating all extensions and revisions of our original contract.  During that time, FC America’s relationship with the City has been extremely strong.

In all the prior renegotiations, the City had always utilized the RFP process which involved open discussions, written proposals and subsequent negotiation of terms which played to our strength as a club.  However, when the City determined this year to re-bid the complex, they utilized a completely different process called an Invitation to Bid.

The ITB process is much more limited and, in essence, involves simply submitting a very limited description of your qualifications and a sealed monetary bid.  The first notice that an ITB process would be utilized was published on March 11, 2013 and sealed bids were due no later than Wednesday, May 8, 2013.

Your board spent a considerable amount of time evaluating our budget and our financial state prior to submitting our bid with the overriding thought process being to submit a substantial enough bid to secure the continued but exclusive use of the complex without passing that cost on to our players and parents.  In the end, we submitted a bid of $101,000 which was five times our previous Trotters Park expense.

At the bid unsealing on May 8, 2013, only FC America and ACYS submitted bids and, surprisingly, the ACYS bid came in $14,000 higher than ours.  At that point, Phase One of the ITB process called the Submissions Phase was closed.  As a result, no other bidders will be permitted to participate going forward.  However, contrary to what is currently being disseminated, no contract for the continued operation of Trotters Park has been awarded and no one has “won” the right to utilize Trotters Park going forward.  The ITB process now moves into Phase Two.

During Phase Two of the ITB process, the City’s Chief Procurement Office is charged with the task of evaluating all components of each bid to determine to whom the contract should be awarded.  During this phase, the City, through its Chief Procurement Officer, retains the right to award the contract to either bidder, evaluating the bids for not just price but quality offered, delivery terms, and service reputation of the bidder.  The City also specifically reserves the right to question the financial resources of the bidder and the ability of the bidder to meet its financial commitments.  Most importantly, the Chief Procurement Officer retains right, during this phase, to accept the entire bid, part of the bid or reject all bids and to advertise for new bids.

Once the Chief Procurement Officer reaches a conclusion concerning which bid to recommend, the ITB process moves into Phase Three which is the Award Phase.  Because these bids are both in excess of $100,000, the recommendation to award by the Chief Procurement Officer then moves on to the Orlando City Council for review, discussion and, ultimately, to a vote.  At this final stage, the Orlando City Council will discuss the matter during an open public forum where we will be prepared to attend and the advocate the strength of our bid as contrasted to that proposed by ACYS.

We feel confident that when it reaches that final stage, the strength of our overall bid will be evident and we will retain Trotters Park as our home field.  As with all other contracts for the use of the complex, this ITB is for a one-year term only with a series of up to four annual extensions at the City’s discretion.

We anticipate that Phases Two and Three of the current ITB process will take at least another 6-8 weeks and as a result we do not anticipate a definitive decision from the City until well after the conclusion of the tryouts.

When the ITB process was first announced, the Board spent considerable time evaluating ACYS’ request that we continue to jointly bid the complex and continue with its current utilization.  Your Board ultimately determined to pass on that offer and to bid the complex on our own.  The reality was, and is, that the incredible growth and success of our Club had simply outgrown our ability to jointly co-exist on four fields with a recreational club.  Training space had become too cramped and inaccessible and the ability of our coaching staff to conduct the high-quality training session that our premier level players demand was being compromised.  It remains our core mission to prepare our players to compete for and to win college scholarship offers through their ability to compete at a high level and quality training is the centerpiece of that mission.  It is what distinguishes us from recreational clubs like ACYS.

Your Board would have been remiss in its obligations however had it not considered and planned for the unlikely possibility that we would not, ultimately, be the successful bidder for Trotters Park.  Thus, we had, prior to the bid opening, positioned ourselves to acquire alternative training spaces.  We have targeted a three-training field position at the NW Recreation Center some 25 minutes north of Trotters and, additionally, positioned ourselves to acquire up to five training grounds in Winter Park, three at Lake Island and two at Ward Park. We are confident that we have adequately planned for any ultimate outcome of the current Trotters Park ITB so that we can continue to train and to field the quality premier program that has been an FC America trademark since our founding in 1991.

We encourage all of our FC America family to stay the course and to remain as committed to us as we have been to you.  No matter the outcome at Trotters, we intend to remain the trusted, quality program that will make our players and our parents proud to wear the badge that reads, “FC America.”

Very truly yours,

H. SCOTT BATES

Vice President

JOE BATTISTA

President

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Sam Hilsee of the FC America GU14 Premier Team was recently selected for the Region III ODP event hosted at Wake Forest University.

From April 18th-21^st, Hilsee was amongst 17 other players from the Region III player pool which included players from North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Tennessee.

Hilsee took part in multiple training sessions on the WFU campus and played in two games against the Virginia ‘98 and the N.Carolina ‘98 ODP select teams. The elite coaching staff pinpointed Sam’s talent early as she was awarded the captains armband for the Region III team for their first game.

Sam also had the opportunity to watch the WFU women’s team play at the Spry stadium and received a 1-hour sports psychology presentation from UNC professor Jennifer Etnier during the course of the 3-day event.

“Sam is an extremely talented player and a very diligent individual,” said FC America GU14 Head Coach Dan Tidmarsh.  “Sam possesses superb technical ability with both feet and over the course of the season has naturally attracted attention from multiple parties outside of the club. This interest has culminated in her being selected for this fantastic event. I am positive she will continue to reap the rewards due to her high work ethic as she progresses through the youth ranks.”

For a full list of attendees and to learn more about the ODP program please click here

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Four FC America girls received invites to attend the US Club Soccer iD2 National Identification Camp in Charleston, S.Carolina from April 11^th-14th.

Carolyne Davidson, Marisa Maynes, Hannah Telleysh and Johnnie Joy Bryant were selected among the top 52 1999 and 2000 girls in the country to attend the 4-day training camp.

Established in 2004, US Club Soccer’s id² National Identification and Development Program provides an opportunity for the country's elite youth soccer players to be identified and developed, while also being scouted for inclusion in U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs.

“We are tremendously proud of the girls achievements in being selected for this prestigious event,” said FCA GU14 Head Coach Dan Tidmarsh.  “As a club we had four players receive an invite to attend the 4-day camp which made FCA the most represented club from throughout the country. This achievement is a credit to the current FCA girls program, their teams, the coaching staff.”

For a full list of attendees and to learn more about the ID2 program please click here

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The BU14, BU16 and BU18 teams give the club the honor of most boys teams advanced in the State (3).  Combined with the GU13 and GU17 teams, FCA also claims the honor of most overall teams advanced in the state (5).

Narrowly missing out on a place in the final four were the BU17 team who fell just short in the round of 8 while the GU14, GU15 (losing in OT) and GU18 sides lost their round of 16 contests on a weekend where nine total FCA teams competed at various locations throughout the state. 

“At FC America we have completed one of the most successful weekends in our proud 22 year history of the club,” said FC America General Manager Graham Munro.  “We would like to congratulate the five teams who have advanced to the final four weekend and we wish them every success on May 18^th / 19^th.”

The FYSA State Cup complements a competitive calendar for the club’s Premier Team Program that also includes gameplay in the prestigious Florida Premier League (FPL), the Florida Cup and various tournaments such as Disney Showcase, Jefferson Cup and CASL.

“As an organization it has been pleasing to see so many teams represent the FC America brand with quality and professionalism over the course of the past season,” said Munro.  “In addition to the on-field team success, we have an abundance of top quality players and coaches throughout the entire club which is a testament to the strength and the quality of our organization.”

For more information on playing opportunities at FC America, please call 321-251-4920 or visit www.fcamerica.org  

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Orlando,  9th 2013

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In an eventful couple of weeks of State Cup and Region Cup action, a total of eleven FC America teams advanced to the next round. Well done to everyone involved!

BU14 Premier - 1st in group - advance to Sweet 16

BU15 Premier - 2nd in group - advance to Challenge Round

BU16 Premier - 2nd in group - advance to Challenge Round

BU16 Premier Black - 2nd in group - advance to Challenge Round 

BU17 Premier - 1st in group - advance to Sweet 16

BU18 Premier - 1st in group - advance to Sweet 16 

GU13 Premier - 1st in group - advance to Sweet 16

GU14 Premier - 1st in group - advance to Sweet 16

GU15 Premier - 2nd in group - advance to Challenge Round

GU17 Premier - 1st in group - advance to Sweet 16  

Coach Angie Gayo’s GU15 Premier Black narrowly lost 1-0 in their action packed Region Cup final, the goal coming late in over-time. Leading goal scorers the whole round were Analisa Lee and Lauren McDonald. The team can be very proud of the fact they out-scored their opponents 14-2 over the course of the round.

Congratulations to the GU16 Premier team who won Regions Cup and also Presidents Cup this past week. The girls defeated West Pasco 2-1 in their semi-final, and won the final 3-0 against a very strong Warner team. The girls will be representing the State of Florida in June in Alabama. "The team have performed brilliantly, they should all be very proud. Let’s remember that this is a brand new team!" - Coach Jimmy Angeles

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The game was televised live on Fox Soccer Channel, highlights of which can be viewed HERE.

Congratulations to Tommy and the whole team, and good luck with the rest of the qualifying campaign from everyone at FC America!

Following in Tommy's footsteps, doing the club proud this week; three FC America players are currently in Guadalajara, Mexico, with the US Youth Soccer ODP Region 3 Teams - Boys 1997, 98 and 99 International Tour.

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For playing opportunities with FC America contact Premier Team Director Alan Gray at agray@globalpremiersoccer.com or 321-251-4920