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Former Champions League Coach Added to Staff

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

Placer United Soccer Club Launches U.S. Soccer Girls’ Development Academy

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

Teagan Matye Commits to Westmont College

“I am very excited to announce my commitment to Westmont College! I give all glory to God, because I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for how He has worked in my life. A big thank you to all of the coaches I have had along the way, especially Terry Artica, Chris Alcala and Ron Benjamin. A special thank you to Ron for always pushing me to become better everyday and developing me into the player I am today. None of this would have been possible without him and I am extremely thankful to have him as a coach. Another thank you to my mom, dad, and brother Jackson, for constantly supporting me and motivating me to become a better player. I am so thankful to them for taking me to countless games and sacrificing their time so that I can play the sport I love. They been with me through the ups and downs of this process, and I can’t thank them enough for all that they have done. Also, I would like to thank my awesome teammates for are always pushing me and supporting me. “Tobin” will miss this group a lot, but I could not be more excited for the next chapter as a player and student at Westmont. Finally, thank you to Coach Chantel and Coach Cole for giving me this opportunity to play at the next level for such an amazing school. I cannot wait to go Westmont and pursue my dream of playing college soccer as a Warrior.” —Teagan Matye

Placer United Players Rack Up Impressive High School Soccer Honors

The 2017 high school soccer season was an exciting one in the Sacramento region. Placer United recognizes the on-field accomplishments of players who earned MVP honors and First Team All League distinctions

Sierra Foothill League

All League MVP:  Mackenzie George – Woodcreek

Girls All League First Team

  • Mackenzie George – Woodcreek
  • Tanya Bills – Rocklin
  • Grace Vargas – Woodcreek
  • Sylvia Sloss – Del Oro
  • Rachel Gensch – Del Oro
  • Paige Martinsen – Del Oro
  • Cassidy George – Woodcreek
  • Taylor Evinger – Del Oro
  • Teagan Matye – Del Oro
  • Emily Talmi – Granite Bay
  • Mackenzie Hilton – Woodcreek
  • Kat Yarbrough – Del Oro

Boys All League First Team 

  • Zac Wong – Granite Bay
  • Jack McGrail – Granite Bay
  • Mason Lopez – Granite Bay
  • Blake Cahill – Del Oro
  • Logan Siemers – Nevada Union
  • Elisha Burbridge – Del Oro
  • Wyatt Walsh – Rocklin
  • Noah Sonenstein – Oak Ridge

Capital Valley Conference

Girls All League First Team

  • Anjalena Garcia – Antelope
  • Kiley Whipple – Oakmont
  • Jordan Higgins – Whitney
  • Sammie Craig – Whitney

Boys All League First Team

  • Ryan Branigan – Roseville
  • Kyle Kellogg – Roseville
  • Benji Kikanovic – Antelope
  • Ryan Poindexter – Roseville
  • Clayton Sato – Whitney
  • James Garbolino-Mojica, Roseville
  • Nate Sherwood – Whitney
  • Eddie Silverbush – Ponderosa

Pioneer Valley League

All League Offensive MVP:  Andrea Cuevas – Lincoln High School

Girls All League First Team

  • Andrea Cuevas – Lincoln

Boys All League First Team

  • Calan Martel – Colfax
  • Andres Cuevas – Lincoln
  • Adrain Hoyes – Lincoln

Golden Empire League

Boys All League First Team

  • Josh Ortiz- Lindhurst
  • Ivan Oseguera – Lindhurst
  • Omar Oseguera – Lindhurst

Central Valley California League

All League MVP – Amber Jackson – Forrest Lake Christian School

Tri County Conference

All League Offensive MVP – Sydney Schultz – River City High School

 

2003G Gold Bring Home Placer’s 7th NPL Champions League Crown

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!

Placer Coach Awarded New Coaching License


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!

Britney Flint Headed to San Francisco Academy of Art University

“I am extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to play D2 soccer at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where I plan to study graphic design, photography, and digital media while playing the sport that I love.

I want to thank all my coaches for shaping me into the player I am today: Lee Callow, Matt Scammacca, Chris Alcala, John Bustos, Todd DeCarlo and especially Ron Benjamin. Ron, thank you for always believing in me and continuously pushing me to improve every day.

Enormous thanks, of course, goes to my family for being my biggest supporters through the long drives, freezing cold and burning hot games, and cheering me on through the wins and losses. Particularly, thank you to my dad for being my biggest shoulder to lean on during this process. He was my first soccer coach and played the biggest role in developing my love for the game. Thank you, dad, for the countless hours you spent writing college emails with me and offering me the best advice. I would not be where I am today without you.

Finally, to all my teammates with whom I shared so many “Ronjamin” fitness sessions, Placer Idol skits, wins, losses, trophies, group texts, and fun nights on the road at soccer hotels. You’ve been some of my best friends and you will be forever.

I’m definitely looking forward to my senior year, but I also cannot wait to attend Art U and further both my soccer career, and my future in the art world.”—Britney Flint

00B Gold Advance to Dallas Cup Elite Eight

18,000 miles and three states away from the Placer United Indoor Training Center, our Placer United 00 Boys Gold are flying the yellow and black colors as they proudly march into the quarter finals of the world famous Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup youth soccer tournament.

The boys followed up their impressive win Monday against highly rated USSF Development Academy Solar Chelsea team on Tuesday by tying their second game of the tournament 0-0 against a top ranked team from Oklahoma called West Side Alliance. The draw meant a win was a must on day three or they could pack their bags and be home in time for the Easter Bunny.

During the warm up, the boys looked a little nervous as they all knew what was at stake. At the opposite end of the field, the Mana Mana club team from Mexico were feeling loose and happy as they knew they had nothing to lose as they were already knocked out of the tournament. The Mexican team started off the better of the two teams but it didn’t take long before the Placer boys got into their groove with some slick quick passes that led to the first real opportunity of the team which helped settled everybody down.

#25 Zac Wong gave the boys the go ahead goal as he powered himself onto a free kick delivered into the box by Dylan Finley.

Top scorer Benji Kikanovic converted easily from the spot to make it 2-0 and then Manny Cabrera made it 3-0 for the boys in yellow as his shot bounced of a Mana Mana defender to wrong foot their goal keeper and move the boys into the knock out rounds of one off the biggest and best youth soccer events in the country.

Great job boys and good luck in the next round! Go Placer!

2000 Boys Victorious In Dallas Cup Match

A big congratulations to the 2000 Boys Gold team on their first game victory at the 2017 Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup, a by-invitation only tournament which is regarded as one of the top youth soccer tournaments in the world. 

Top academy teams from England, Germany, Spain, and Mexico play at this prestigious event and a few well known stars who have gone on to play in the world’s biggest stage such as David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Michael Owen, Clint Dempsey, Wayne Rooney, Chicharito, Raul and Michael Bradley, have graced the pitches in Dallas.

With around thirty college coaches on the sidelines, our 00 Boys opened their first game against top ranked USSF Academy side Solar Chelsea . The boys went down 1-0 early in the half, but some clever adjustments from Coach Matt Scammacca saw the boys tie the game with a stunning goal from in form striker Benji Kikanovic which kick started the boys come back as they went on to score two more goals from Gabe Royer and Michel Eljaiek Galofre to win out  3-1.

Congrats boys and great job! Go Placer!