Dear Friends, Colleagues and Soccer Enthusiasts:

I hope that you are well. I just wanted to bring you up to speed with some changes that have been going on in my life. Last week I was offered an opportunity to join the Twin City Youth Soccer Association in Winston Salem, North Carolina, as their new Director of Coaching. After much discussion with my wife, we feel that this will be a fantastic move for us as a family.

Those of you who know me well, also know I have two young children, my six-year-old son Knox, and my daughter, Haige, who is almost three. My daughter is a Special Needs child with global development delay. When she was six months old, we were told that she would never walk or talk. Two months ago, she was rushed to the hospital and kept in intensive care for three days after swallowing a hair barrette. The barrette was removed from her throat through the side of her esophagus. I was in Los Angeles at the time with the CDA U16 team. I quickly flew back to be with my family. As a parent, my life flashed before my eyes and the realization that life is so precocious and extremely short became more apparent. This move to North Carolina has come around very quickly and the changes it brings have become very overwhelming.

This opportunity will offer my wife, Megan, the chance to take some time off from working and continue to become an incredible Mum. She and I can spend more time with our children. Megan’s family lives in Michigan and mine still reside in the UK. This was another deciding factor in the move as it will bring us a lot closer to where our families are located and allow us to have our kids become a bigger part of their lives. My daughter has recovered well and has recently, after many hours of therapy, started to walk. We are hopeful her development continues. Winston Salem offers a couple of incredible Special Needs programs we hope Haige will qualify for.

As of July 3rd, I will be leaving Placer United to begin my new role in North Carolina. I am happy to say that the Placer United Board of Directors has made some excellent choices in my replacements. Ron Benjamin will take full control of the Girls Development Program and Paul O’Brien will take on the daily operations of the boys side, as well as, continuing to work with San Juan SC and the CDA program. Ron and Paul both have years of exemplary experience in the soccer industry. After spending the past eight years with Paul and three with Ron, I want you to be assured that they will continue to develop the players and the soccer club to the great standard that you have become accustomed to.

I’d also like to take this time to thank all of the wonderful coaching staff at Placer United, in particular those that have been with me for five or six years: Jason Gantt, James Kavanagh, Lee Callow, Gene DuChateau and Matt Scamacca. There have been many volunteers that came through the Club during my time ere and I would like to thank them also, including past Board Members Cindy Schnider and Chris Peters whose support in the early days of the job were very much needed. Thank you to the current Board of Directors and volunteers who work tirelessly in their support of me as the DOC, my incredible team managers, Linda Ito, Chris Peters, Michelle Schiffel, as well as, the mentors that I have gained along the way from various areas of the country: Fred Wilson at Mustang Soccer Club, Benjamin Ziemer at Nor Cal Premier Soccer League, Tara Erikson at University of Oregon, Cal South DOC Steve Hoffman, Chris Little at Greensboro Youth Soccer Club, Brad Wylde at the Charlotte Soccer Academy and Jill Ellis at UCLA. I can’t thank you enough for all the support. Lastly, I would like to add a huge thank you to Paul O’Brien, Ron Benjamin, Scott Juniper, Mark Carr, Fraser Morrison, Mike Smith, Justin Niefhoff, Joey Hoffman, Paul Furlong and Paul Thomas for always being there with advice and great times!

Thank you for allowing me to serve you as the Director of Coaching. It is a role that I have taken very seriously and have always been extremely passionate about. I also want to let you know what a great pleasure it has been getting to know you. I’m very proud to have been part of the Sacramento area soccer community for the past eight years and I hope I have been able to make a difference.

I look forward to finishing out the rest of my time with Placer United and seeing you all out on the field.

Nathan Williams

Executive Director of Coaching

Placer United Soccer Club

“Dedicated to Development”

Dear Placer United Soccer Club families:

On behalf of the entire PUSC Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce to you that we have promoted Girls Director of Coaching Ron Benjamin and Boys Director of Coaching Paul O’Brien to the positions of Co-Directors of Coaching. The Board made this decision, and Ron and Paul accepted the positions, last night.

This decision was made after Nathan Williams informed us Thursday that, due primarily to personal and family obligations, he would be moving to North Carolina and taking a position as Director of Coaching with the Twin City Youth Soccer Association.

Nathan has asked us to let you know that he will be personally emailing all of our families himself with more details about his move and the reasons behind them. You can expect that email shortly.

The Board and the entire PUSC community thank Nathan for all he has done for our Club in the past eight years, and wish him and his family the very best. Nathan did a tremendous job in helping us implement our vision to be one of the nation’s premier competitive youth soccer organizations, with a focus on player development and creating a club mentality. It is a testament to the growth and strength of our club that two top coaches and soccer professionals like Ron and Paul, each of whom could be candidates in their own right to direct any of the nation’s top clubs, will be working together to take Placer United to even higher levels.

Paul O’Brien has been the driving force in developing the NorCal Premier Soccer playing league into the league of choice for Division 1 competitive soccer programs. He holds a U.S. Soccer Federation National “B” soccer coaching license. Ron Benjamin, who joined PUSC in 2007 after serving as Director of Coaching at Marin Football Club, holds a National “A” license and is recognized among his peers as a top technical soccer development coach.

Both Ron and Paul have already begun peppering us with ideas, some new, and some they have been working on for some time with Nathan. This is an exciting time for our Soccer Club, because every change, even saying good-bye to a dear friend like Nathan, gives us a chance to evaluate ourselves. We already believe we have become the top club in Northern California, but we measure ourselves against the best in the nation, and we know we can always get better.

If you have any questions, you can always contact me, any Board member, Ron or Paul, or any of our coaches.

The one thing that will never be in doubt is the Club’s commitment to our soccer families. The strength of our soccer club is in every player, every coach, every parent, and every volunteer. We are “ClubStrong.” We will always remain committed to player development and to creating the very best competitive youth soccer experience for you and your children.

Please join us again in congratulating Ron and Paul in their new positions, and in thanking Nathan for all he has done for us. We wish him, his wife Megan, and their children our very best.

Sincerely,

Jodi Tarr

Club Administrator

The U13 Girls Gold team had an awesome showing at the first tournament of their season. The girls played up 1 age group in this tournament and by the way they played and performed you would have never been able to tell. Overcoming all of the obstacles that playing up represents, the girls were awesome matching their opponents in every facet of the game along the way.

The girls battled with Carson Valley to open the tournament and coming up just short 3-2 however, anyone watching that game would admit they deserved at least a tie.

In the next two games the girls maxed out points handling both Sagebrush 3-0 and Nevada Elite 7-0. The team finished group play with 22 points putting them into the final game.

In the final, the girls met a very tough Santa Rosa Blizzard team who are very solid in the U14 age group. The girls had an incredible showing in the final match—solid in every area of the game goalkeeping, defending and attacking. It truly was a beautiful team effort with every girl on the team contributing. The girls were unbelievably composed in the final coming up just a bit short 1-0 on a penalty kick.

Congratulations to an awesome group of girls and a great team!

Placer United Girls teams played in their first events of the year over the Memorial Day Weekend.

Stanford Memorial Shootout

(most of our teams played up an age group)

U11 Black – 1-0 over San Juan / 0-1 to Walnut Creek 0-3 to Palo Alto

U12 Gold – 2-0 over Nevada Prem / 3-0 over Nevada Elite / 0-2 to Sac Utd / 0-0 with Santa Rosa (lost in pk’s) 4th

U12 Black – 0-1 to SJ White / 0-2 to MP Strikers / 0-2 Nevada Elite

U13 Gold – 3-0 over Sagebrush / 2-3 to Carson Valley / 7-0 Nevada Elite / 0-1 Santa Rosa in Final 2nd

U13 Black – 1-2 to EDYSL / 0-3 to Burlingame / 0-3 to Central Valley

U14 Black – 6-0 over San Ramon / 2-0 over Nevada Elite / 0-2 to Burlingame / 1-0 over West Valley 3rd

PDA College Showcase in New Jersey

(over 200 college coaches at the event)

U17 Gold – 0-0 with Wall Wombats-NJ / 1-1 with Brentwood-TN / 0-0 with Chantilly-VA

U18 Gold – 0-0 with FC Stars of Mass / 1-2 to Syosset-NY / 2-2 with Montclair-NJ

Tomorrow, the USA Bid Committee will deliver our Bid Book to FIFA. We’re another step closer to earning the honor of hosting the World Cup!

This Bid is our story — the story of all fans whose passion for the game courses through our country: the busy mom coaching her kid’s soccer team; the lifelong fans who brought their love for soccer from other nations; the weekend warriors who play in city parks and parking lots.

The Bid Committee has created a new video telling this story. They’ve traveled to communities across the country, speaking with players and fans of every kind, capturing what soccer really means to the American people. Take a look at the video and pass it to everyone you know:

http://gousabid.com/ourstory

I’m excited about the USA Bid effort because I’ve seen soccer come such a long way in the United States since I first set foot on the pitch more than 30 years ago.

Soccer is America’s game — the perfect sport to match our nation’s diversity, creativity, and cooperation. And now, with your help, we can bring the game’s greatest tournament back to America, and welcome the world.

Watch this great new video and share it around:

http://gousabid.com/ourstory

Thanks again for all your support.

— Mia