Placer Adds Bashar Abduljalil to Coaching Staff

In our continuing effort to raise the standard and level of our coaching staff, Placer United is proud to announce the hiring of former Al Ain FC goalkeeper coach and game analysis coach, Bashar Abduljalil.  Al Ain FC is one of the largest and most successful soccer Clubs in the UAE, boasting a record 32 domestic titles, including 12 league titles. They also compete regularly in the Asian Champions League.

Bashar with Asamoah Gyan leaving the field after a Champions League Game.

During the years Bashar was involved with Al Ain FC, the team won three league titles, one President’s Cup, one Super Cup, and reached the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League in 2013 and the final in 2016.

Bashar coached within the Academy system at Al Ain and was promoted to the men’s team where he worked with some high level players such as striker Ghanian World Cup player Asamoah Gyan (EPL and Sierra A), Slovakian World Cup player Miroslav Stoch (EPL, Eredivise and Turkish League) and UAE star midfielder Omar Addulrahman who was ranked the #1 player in Asia in 2012.

Bashar in action during his playing days preparing to make a save.

“To be able to attract a coach like Bashar, who has been involved for years at the highest levels of professional coaching and play, says a lot about our commitment to staff development and the direction we are going with Placer,” said Paul O’Brien, Director of Soccer Operations. “In the short time Bashar has been involved with some of our teams, he has made a tremendous difference by bringing his extensive soccer knowledge and experience, but also a high degree of professionalism as both a coach and player.”

Bashar with current Espanyol Head Coach Quique Sanches Flores discussing tactics with Al AIN FC players

Bashar has worked for some very experienced  head coaches like Ziatko Dalic and Quique Sanches Flores, the current head coach of Espanyol. “I have no doubt he will be a great asset to the club and have a positive influence in the development of players within our club,” stated O’Brien.

Welcome Bashar! Go Placer!

Bashar Abduljalil Resume

Rocklin, CA – Placer United Soccer Club will launch a Girls’ Development Academy in partnership with U.S. Soccer. Teams will include U14 (2004), U15 (2003), U17 (2002/2001), and U19 (2000/1999) starting with the fall 2017 season.

“Placer United is honored to be part of the new U.S. Soccer Girls’ Development Academy program,” said Paul O’Brien, Director of Soccer Operations. “We were evaluated on the quality and U.S. Soccer licenses of our coaching staff, the club’s facilities, staff to player ratios, and our history of player production to Youth National Teams and professional teams, to name just a few of the rigorous qualifications. Our coaches have really done a great job of continued coaching education and achievement of higher level USSF soccer licenses so we can improve and better educate our players in a game that gets more challenging at the higher levels of play,” added O’Brien.

With a primary focus on player development, the girls’ program philosophy includes an appropriate training-to-game ratio, playing fewer but more meaningful games, as well as, providing assistance for coaching education and development. U.S Soccer is paving the way for female youth soccer players to compete at the highest level possible.

Since 2007, the boys U.S. Soccer Development Academy has grown to be the elite male youth player development model across the country. It has significantly improved the everyday environment for players, coaches, referees, and clubs.

Placer United’s Girls Technical Director, Sarah Fawcett, noted, “As a coach of young girls in this sport, this is huge news for our club and all the girls within our soccer community. It’s clear that the DA represents the highest level of play for boys’ soccer in the United States. Now, our girls will have the same opportunities as they look to progress to collegiate, professional leagues, and international football.”

Competitively, the girls’ program will feature local and regional matches and opportunities for players to showcase their talents at regional and national events. The season will be structured over a 10-month period with clubs participating across the country organized by divisions and conferences with national and/or regional events incorporated into the overall program.

U.S. Soccer is launching the Girls Development Academy Program as an effort to advance the development of world-class female players. The Academy will focus on positively impacting the everyday club environments to assist in maximizing the female youth player. U.S. Soccer Girls’ Development Academy games will be scouted by U.S. Soccer and the program will serve as a pathway to U.S. Soccer Youth National Teams.

Informational Meeting Night

About Placer United
Placer United Soccer Club is nationally recognized as one of the premier youth soccer clubs in the country for competitive level players and is one of the top-ranking soccer clubs in northern California. Established in 1982, this nonprofit organization is based in the town of Rocklin in Placer County. Membership includes almost 700 players, ages seven through 19 on 50 teams.

CURRENT PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS

National Teams

• Kellie Pagador – USA U15 National Team
• Abena Aidoo – U17 Ghana National Team
• Cody Sundquist – USA U18 National Team

Alumni Overseas & Professional

• Seth Casiple – MLS Portland Timbers, USL Reno 1868, US U18 National Team
• Savannah Coiner – Finland-based Club Vasa IFK
• Jake Feener – USL Tulsa Roughnecks
• Connor Hallisey – MLS FC Sporting Kansas City, US U18 National Team
• Ryan Hollingshead – MLS FC Dallas
• Luis Martinez – USL Oklahoma Energy FC
• adalyn Schiffel – NWSL Washington Reign, US U20 Women’s National Team
• Cody Sundquist – Primavera AC Fiorentina, Florence, Italy; U14-U18 US National Team

Placer United 2003 Girls Gold – 2017 U14 NPL Champions League Champions

A BIG congratulations to the Placer United 2003 Girls Gold team who finished out their League season in style winning the U14 Girls Champions League title Sunday at the NPL Spring College Showcase held at Davis Legacy over the weekend.

Every year during the Spring, NorCal NPL League, now widely regarded as one of biggest and best run college recruiting programs in the Nation, crowns a Champion in each age group of their Champions League Divisions at the Spring College Showcase. The Champions League Divisions contain the crème de la crème of teams made up of the current top eight teams in the State. Qualifying is tough and to win the league is even tougher.

Since the 2014 introduction of the NPL Champions League, Placer United has won six Champions League titles. Going into this past weekend we were hoping for title number seven as we had five teams qualify to play in 2017 Champions League soccer.

Over 140 men’s and women’s college coaches converged on the Davis soccer fields from all corners of the USA. Our 2003 Placer Girls Gold team stepped up huge and sealed the deal, as well as achieved an automatic qualification to the NPL National Finals by finishing top of a league that contained two ECNL teams and one future USSF Girls Academy team to take home Placer United’s seventh Champions League title.

Congratulations to all the girls and Coach Ron Benjamin for a brilliant achievement! Great job! Go Placer!

In 2016, US Soccer set new standards in an aggressive coaching education program and advanced licensing structure. The new USSF A Youth License course, which launched in August 2016, had 250 applicants and the US Soccer educational department hand-picked thirty coaches to participate in the very first class of this kind. Among those selected to participate was Placer United Director of Soccer Operations Paul O Brien.

“I am very proud to have been one of the first coaches who were selected to attend the revised USSF A Course,” said O Brien. “The curriculum was just over nine months long and was designed and adapted based on a set of tasks each coach had to complete and implement within their own home environment,” explained O’Brien. “The tasks were defined as coaching matches, coaching training sessions, leading the team, leading the player, managing a performance environment, and leadership. We were given plenty of information through lectures, seminars and workshops, and then assessed based on the progression of these tasks relative to our own club and team situations.”

“The course was intense, educational and extremely demanding, consisting of a series of four meetings with USSF staff, three of which were week-long educational and coaching sessions based in Houston,” said O’Brien. “We had three development periods in between each meeting, with a final meeting, including an assessment, carried out in our own club environment. I remember the first day of the first meeting in Houston when the outline of the course curriculum was passed out to the participating coaches. There was a combination of feeling overwhelmed, anxious and challenged. Yet, I was also very excited knowing that this was going to be a completely rewarding experience and an opportunity to do something different than I had ever been exposed to in other coaching courses. I received my final results the week leading into Easter, so needless to say I had a good Easter weekend.”

Congrats to Coach Paul on a job well done. Go Placer!