By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Youth soccer in the City of Burlington is getting a makeover.
Announced late last week, the Burlington Youth Soccer Club, which was founded in 1991 by Sandy Cowan, will now be the Burlington United Soccer Club starting this fall.
In a press release, the new club announced it would partner with Croatian Eagles Soccer Club and Burlington High School, to “offer high-level competitive soccer to players of all abilities while maintaining a family-based atmosphere and positive relationships within the community.”
The press release was signed by Joel Molitor, the head boys and girls soccer coach at Burlington High School, and Amanda Seifert, the president of Burlington Youth Soccer Club.
Seifert said Tuesday night no board for the new club has been elected, but she is the founding director of the Burlington United Corp.
The change, she said, stems from concerned parents who wanted to see a more competitive program.
“There was certain level where kids were topping out,” Seifert said. “They were leaving and going to other clubs or getting frustrated and quitting the sport altogether.”
Seifert said other clubs within the Burlington Area are succeeding, such as the Burlington Titans (baseball) and Burlington Spiders (football), and the soccer program wanted to take the next step up.
“We just felt that soccer should have something of that caliber,” Seifert said.
Seifert said joining with the Croatian Eagles will allow Burlington access to a more established program, as well as a program with a higher level of skills.
“They have professional trainers,” Seifert said. “They have a level of staff we could not hope to establish at this time on our own.”
Seifert said the group hopes to maintain most of its current coaching staff. Scott Surprise, the current Croatian coaching director, will lead the staff. Tony Guinn, the head men’s soccer coach at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, will also serve in an advisory role.
The hope in the partnership is to create a player pool of about 750 active players, who will receive training in various positions and coaches getting trained by other strong coaches.
“We want them to teach our coaches,” Seifert said.
Seifert did say the group had also hoped to merge with Burlington’s Kiwanis soccer program, but agreements on how to handle younger players could not be reached.
Bob Prailes, at the head of the Kiwanis program in Burlington, could not be reached for comment.
In the press release, Seifert and Molitor thanked Cowan and the others who have volunteered with the program.
“It has been a tremendous amount of work and commitment,” the release stated. “Sandy and the other volunteers deserve our respect and gratitude.”
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