Author: matt

ALABAMA FC ANNOUNCES NEW DIRECTOR

ALABAMA FC ANNOUNCES NEW ALABASTER DIRECTOR

Jon Kresena Appointed as Alabaster U-13 to U-19 Director and Alabama FC Camp Director!

We are pleased to announce the enhancement of Jon Kresena’s role within AFC.  Effective January 3rd, 2024 Jon will take ownership of the older Competitive and Recreational arm of our Alabaster Branch.  He will also serve as the Camp Director for all of Alabama FC’s camp programming.

Jon will build on the excellent work of Brock Vaughn over the past few years, who is sadly leaving us and moving back to South Carolina to be closer to family.  Brock did an excellent job with the program, and we will miss his spirit, and commend him for a job well done. We know Jon will be another excellent leader in Alabaster, and he looks forward to serving the branch in 2024 and beyond.  Jon will also still work with the Boy’s ECRL program while in his new position within the organization.

Jon is one of the longest-tenured staff within Alabama FC and has been a model of consistency for over a decade. Executive Director Andrew Brower was quoted, “It is bittersweet to bring Jon into this role.  He has been an excellent ambassador of our program for a long time, and has earned the right to be promoted. I am excited for him and know that he will be an excellent fit for the branch, as he has deep ties and relationships in the Alabaster area. I would also be remised in not mentioning the great job Brock Vaughn did with our club while working for Alabama FC. He was a great employee and someone we will miss, but we are grateful we have someone of Jon’s pedigree to take over ownership of this role. We look forward to watching Jon’s vision of the program,  as he works with current Alabaster Academy Director Will Patridge to continue to raise the standard of excellence of soccer in central Shelby County”

Let’s all make sure we give them a warm welcome when you see them around the club.

2023 AFC Annual Serves Day

AFC Helping Off The Field.

Alabama FC Serves!

Over the past few weeks and continuing into the fall season, our teams have been out impacting the community with our Alabama FC Serves Day.  This has become an annual calendar event for Alabama FC, as we want to teach our players and membership the value of helping our community, through selfless acts of kindness.

Our club continued to raise the standard of excellence in serving our community.  Below are some of the projects a few of our teams worked on this summer:

 

  • Alabaster 05/06/07 Select and 07 Premier Boys- Serving Manna Ministries
  • 09 Premier and 10 Select Girls- Packed over 500 food boxes with the local community food bank
  • 07 Premier Boys- Spent time with Boys and Girls Club at the Legion FC game
  • 2010 ECNL Girls- Picked up trash and did landscaping at the Lovelady Center
  • 2012 Pre ECNL Boys/2012 SCCL South Boys- spent 4-5 hours cleaning up the Moton Community Center in Leeds
  • 07 ECNL Boys- donated backpacks to Vineyard Family Services
  • 2014 Girls- Decorated and Packed Lunch Bags for Samaritan Place for local refugees
  • 2011 ECNL/ECRL Boys did a mini-camp for the Boys and Girls Club of Central Alabama

 

Executive Director Andrew Brower on his thoughts on the 2023 Alabama FC Serves Day.” This is one of the best things we do as an organization.  To serve witness to countless kids and families showing the impact we can have by taking a few hours out of our busy lives to serve and help others in our community is priceless. We love to see our membership rally in unity to serve those in need in our area.  This is a great example of our club working together to make our community stronger and better for future generations.   I am grateful to so many parents, managers, and players for their role in another successful Alabama FC Serves Day!”

BUSA/AFC Dicks Sporting Goods Shop Day

Dicks Sporting Goods BUSA/AFC!

Birmingham United Soccer Association Shop Event

                         Friday, August 18th  – Monday, August 21st                                

Alabaster, Birmingham, & Hoover Store Location(s)

To shop online instead of in-store, use code SDSK13LJU0QOPC  

off your purchase of team sports equipment* and cleats only. *Some exclusions apply.

Don’t forget! DICK’S Sporting Goods is offering you a 20% off discount throughout the store. So, grab the things you’ll need for the season and all the other gear you’ve been wanting too! Be sure to use the coupon linked below, as this is specific to our organization. The coupon is valid in-store on the dates above and should be shown at the register during checkout.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS Birmingham United Soccer Association Shop Event Coupon

To Save on purchases all year, Click the Coupon Link Below

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS TEAM SPORTS COUPON OFFERS (VALID ALL YEAR)

 

ALABAMA FC Senior Class

Congratulations to our Senior Class

Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

We Alabama FC and its staff continue to set the bar regarding exposure and college placement.

Help celebrate these young women and men as they embark on the next journey.

Here is what Executive Director Andrew Brower had to say.

“Alabama FC is proud to announce the 2023 College Commitment List!  This group of players is special to our entire Director Staff because of their perseverance to fight through the Covid year which drastically minimized their visibility.  Each player and family represented here on this list has served our club with excellence and dedication that is rarely seen in today’s world.  We have dozens of players on this list, that have played in our club since they were five and six years old, and it is so rewarding to see these players have the opportunity to pursue their dreams at the next level.  Congratulations to the Class of 2023, we are excited to continue to watch your journey at the collegiate level.”

ALABAMA FC ANNOUNCES Director Changes

ALABAMA FC ANNOUNCES NEW CHANGES TO THE DIRECTOR STAFF

Sean Doran

Sean Doran has been appointed to the new role of Director of Soccer Operations for Alabama FC!

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Doran to the new position of Director of Soccer Operations.  Sean has been a long standing member of our Director Staff and someone who has helped grow Alabama FC into one of the premier soccer destinations in the southeast.

Executive Director Andrew Brower had the following to say about Sean, ” We are thrilled to continue to promote and enhance employment opportunities for great people like Sean and he will thrive in his new role with Alabama FC.  Sean is smart, driven, loyal and detail oriented and is a vital part of our organizational success within our programming.  In addition, he is an excellent coach, trainer and will still continue to coach players and teams in his new role.  I love to see good people grow and thrive and it has been wonderful to see Sean’s ascension within our ranks all the while we look forward to more success in the future under his direction.

Martin Maguire

Alabama FC Announces Director Appointment!

Alabama FC is pleased to announce the appointment of Martin Maguire to the role of ECNL/ECNL-RL Program Assistant.  In this role, Martin will help serve both our boys and girls ECNL/ECNL-RL teams and support Director of Operations Sean Doran with league logistics.  Martin will also provide club-wide skills training as the club adds two nights of additional skill training so that all players have the opportunity to train four days a week next fall.

Executive Director Andrew Brower was quoted on Martin’s hiring, ” We are thrilled to bring Martin into a full-time position.  He has been working with the club for the past few seasons in addition to working with the University of Montevallo Women’s team.  He has helped grow and develop many players from his work within our Academy program and everyone raved about his training and professionalism.  Martin’s experience working with Arsenal’s ECNL Program in California will serve as a great benefit to our organization and we are thrilled to not only bring a great coach into our ranks but also a top-notch person to serve our membership”

Growth in Alabama FC/BUSA Alabaster Branch Fuels Additional Director Staff Additions!

Executive Director Andrew Brower announced, “Due to the unprecedented growth in our Alabama FC/BUSA Alabaster Branch the past few years we have added additional Staffing to best serve the growing branch.  Below are the additions for the 2023-2024 seasons.

Will Patridge will serve as the U-9-U-11 Academy Director (Boys and Girls) and also serve as our Alabaster Recreational U-4 to U-8 Manager.

Brock Vaughn will serve as our U-13 to U-19 (Boys and Girls) Technical Director and also serve as our U-9 to U-19 Alabaster Recreational Manager.

Both of these employees are excellent coaches but even better people and will serve the branch with excellence.  We are grateful for the many wonderful partnerships within the city of Alabaster and Shelby County that have helped facilitate growth in this branch over the past few seasons.  We believe these strategic management additions will allow our organization to best serve a rapidly growing and thriving soccer community in Alabaster and central Shelby County.”

Let’s all make sure we give them a warm welcome when you see them around the club.

Coming soon

BUSA/AFC Dicks Sporting Goods Shop Day

Dicks Sporting Goods BUSA/AFC!
Offers valid 3/3/2023 – 3/6/2023
To shop online instead of in-store, use code SDSK46WBY4URXU  and valid for 20% off your purchase of team sports equipment* and cleats only. *Some exclusions apply
 

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE COUPON

Interesting Fun Soccer Facts

31 Interesting Facts About Soccer

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world with fans all around the globe. It is therefore no wonder that we have found so many interesting fun facts about soccer we had to share with you.

 

1. The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea is the largest soccer stadium in the world with a capacity of up to 150,000 people.

2. Only eight countries have won the Soccer World Cup so far.

3. The 2022 World Soccer Championship will be opened in Lusail (Qatar), a city that did not exist till recently.

4. The so called “football war” or also known as “100 hours war” was a brief war between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. The name is based on the fact that the war was waged after El Salvador lost a soccer match against Honduras during a World Cup qualifier game in Mexico leading to riots and deaths on both sides

5. Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a founder and the first goalkeeper of soccer club Portsmouth FC.

6. The Brazilian soccer player Pelé holds the record for being the youngest goal scorer, the youngest hat-trick scorer, and the youngest hat-trick scorer in a World Cup final game. He achieved all these records with the age of 17 during the 1958 World Cup,

7. The most goals scored by one side in a Soccer World Cup match is 10. It happened during the 1982 World Cup in Spain between Hungary and El Salvador.

8. The center line of the football stadium in Macapá, Brazil, is exactly on the equator line, so that the competing teams in a match are always on different hemispheres.

9. Soccer player Lee Todd received the fastest red card in soccer history. After the whistle to start the game he commented “F**k me, that was loud” leading to a red card after just two seconds.

10. Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo opened a museum in 2013 dedicated only to himself.

11. The Italian term “Tifosi” describes a group of supporters of a sports team. It literally means “those infected by typhus” because their fanatism is like a fever.

12. During the 2002 Soccer World Cup, Ahn Jung-hwan from South Korea scored a goal against Italy in injury time, knocking the Italians out of the World Cup. The next day, his contract with his Italian home club was terminated because the owner said he could not pay the person who had ruined Italian football.

13. It is estimated that 55 percent of all footballs are produced in Pakistan.

14. Only three years after the first football rules were laid down, the hand play was forbidden.

15. The only Olympic gold medals Uruguay has ever won are for soccer at both the 1924 and 1928 Olympics.

16. The 20 richest soccer clubs in the world are all European

17. The word “Soccer” originated as a slang abbreviation of the word “association” and is credited to late nineteenth century English soccer player, Charles Wreford-Brown

18. Soccer was invented in China already 2,200 years ago. The game was originally called “Tsu Chu” which means “kicking ball”.

19. The FIFA currently has 211 member states whereas the UN only recognizes 203 countries in the world.

20. The Vatican has its own soccer team however it is not a member of the FIFA.

21. The fastest goal in soccer history was scored in 2017 just 2.1 seconds after kick-off.

22. The official nickname of the Australia national soccer team is “the Socceroos”.

23. A referee’s call in a soccer match between Peru and Argentina in 1964 led to a riot in which 300 fans were killed.

24. Since 1896, soccer fields in Germany have to be free of trees.

25. When Germany won the 2014 Soccer World Cup in Brazil, it was the first time they achieved this as a united country. The three previous times, the soccer World Cup was won only by West Germany.

26. The first soccer game broadcasted in TV took place on September 16, 1937 and was a friendly match between Arsenal and Arsenal Reserve. This was followed by showing the international match between England and Scotland on April 9, 1938.

27. Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho came to media attention at age 13 when he scored all 23 goals in a 23–0 victory against a local team.

28. On average, soccer players run as far as 7 miles (11 kilometers) in a single match.

29. Ten percent of Iceland’s residents traveled to France when the country’s soccer team reached the quarter-final of the 2016 Euro Cup in France.

30. The first Soccer World Cup took place in 1930 in Uruguay with 13 teams competing against each other and Uruguay winning the World Cup.

31. Arthur Wharton is considered the first black professional soccer player in the world.

ACL Prevention Interactive Flyer

ACL PREVENTION.

CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO START THE INTERACTIVE FLYER

This interactive flyer from our physical therapy partner shows exercises athletes can do to help prevent ACL injuries.  The flyer lists lots of exercises, including warm-ups and strengthening exercises.  Each exercise listed is a link to a video of one of our sports med physical therapists, Justin Kirk, showing how to perform the exercise.  They are not blue underlined like we are used to seeing hyperlinks, but the indicator appears to open a new window when you hover the cursor over the exercise name.

2022 BUSA Annual Serves Day

BUSA Helping Off The Field.

Alabama FC/Birmingham United Soccer Association is one of the largest soccer clubs in the Southeast, but AFC and BUSA care about more than just soccer. This is evident when the players and coaches team up to make a positive impact in the community off the field.

 

BUSA players across the Academy, Competitive, Alabaster, SCCL, ECRL, and ECNL teams participated in the annual AFC/BUSA Serves Day project.

 

Here are some of the charities and projects our team’s participated working with:

 

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama, Restoration Academy, Shelby County Backpack Buddies program, United Way Hands-On, The Prescott House, and Irondale Community School to name a few of the many places our players and families served,

 

Andrew Brower, Executive Director of Alabama FC and Birmingham United Soccer Association said, “Once again Alabama FC/BUSA has shown there is more than training, and winning games.  Our goal as leaders in soccer is to teach our players and even our families valuable life lessons that can be taken off the pitch and incorporated into their lives for years to come.  Alabama FC Serves Day sponsored by Johnson Kreis Construction is a wonderful opportunity to give back to our communities by serving others. Serving others teaches our players so many lessons on perspective, hard work, and selflessness which are great components of being a great athlete and teammate.”