Coach BillBill Creswick has been the principal trainer for the Pride age group since it’s 2006 origin. He continues to play a key role in creating guiding policy for managing the age group as well as standards for player development. Bill is a full-time, nationally licensed soccer coach with both USSF and NSCAA accreditation and more than three decades of combined college, high school and competitive club coaching experience. He is a former Assistant Coach with the Marymount University (Arlington, Va.) women’s varsity and a 12-year veteran of high school soccer at James W. Robinson Jr. Secondary School (Fairfax, Va.) where he coached girls as well as boys. He is a past Camp Director and Staff Coach with World Class Soccer, Inc. (Fairfax, Va.), and was the Youth Club Liaison for the American Professional Soccer League Washington Stars, a precursor of today’s professional teams. Bill has worked with scores of teams in Northern Virginia’s highly competitive youth leagues. He gained recognition during a lengthy association with the Springfield-South County Youth Club (Va.) for guiding his teams to the elite Division 1 in both WAGS and NCSL. Among his career achievements are eleven trips to Virginia State Cup championship rounds as well as prestigious state, regional and national club team rankings. His players have earned ODP and high school distinction, including the Washington Post’s All-Met Player-of-the-Year, with many graduating from the high school game to play at every level of NCAA competition. His varied experience includes coaching amateur teams in the Fairfax Women’s Soccer Association, serving as a player evaluator for the Virginia Olympic Development Program, and helping establish the Special Olympics Soccer program for Fairfax County, Va. Since 1996 he has conducted the U4-U7 skill development program for the Fairfax Sportsplex (Springfield, Va.). Coach JessJess McLaughlin joined the Pride in Spring of 2009. Jess holds a USSF "C" License and extensive playing experience including as a 4-year starter at the University of Texas at Austin. She also participated in the Olympic Development Program and was a graduate of W.T. Woodson H.S in Fairfax, VA. Jess also worked with the Pride during 2006-7 as part of the SYC Academy program. Jess currently trains Pride Gold. Coach EdithEdith Hernandez joined the Pride in Fall of 2009 and currently trains Pride White and Pride Red. Edith has been coaching and doing individual/small group and team trainings in the Northern VA area since 1996, including coaching WAGS Division 1 teams for several years. One of the teams she trained and was the assistant coach for was the BRYC Attack, formerly known as Arlington Attack, from U11 to U15. The other was BRYC AZUL, a 5-time VA State Champion and a Region 1 runner up. She was there for three of those five championships. In addition, several of the other teams she has trained have had undefeated seasons, both in WAGS and ODSL. Edith has trained so many kids throughout the years that she can go to almost any high school soccer game in Northern VA and see kids she has trained on both teams. "Edith's Way" continues to help teams develop and move up divisions and/or leagues. Many players trained by her have succeeded in making the VA State ODP team. Also, some of her trainees have made the ODP Region 1 team and have competed on the National ODP competition. Lastly, many of the players she has trained have gone on to play collegiate soccer, including one of her former players currently plays for the Washington Freedom. Off Season TrainingWinter Schedule Scrimmages and Winter Tournaments are also part of the regular schedule for the Pride girls. This season the teams participated in an indoor tournament in Maryland as well as a New Years Eve scrimmage at the South Run Indoor Fieldhouse. Additional scrimmages at West Springfield HS turf field were also a popular event for the girls. TryoutsWe are always looking for new players who could be a valuable addition to our program. Interested girls can contact our head coach Mike Jones (coachmike@sycpride.org) at any time to join us for a training session and be evaluated by the Pride coaches and trainers. We also hold open tryouts in early June every year. Our head coach and age group coordinator is Mike Jones. |