Creating Champions On and Off the Field

Kicking Off the New Season

This is a very busy and exciting time for our club as one season ends and a new one begins. WA Cup Tournament play occurred in the latter half of April for all U11-U15 teams and high school girls’ teams played the first weekend of May. While we are very proud of all of our teams, special notice goes to the F08 and F07 Green teams that won the finals, F09 Green team that won the consolation final, the F11 White team for making the semis, and the F07/08 White team, F12 Green and M11 Green teams for making the finals and taking second.

We received an outstanding response for tryouts with over 220 players from outside of the club registered. We will be adding many players and new teams to the club. In addition, we have hired a few new coaches – Emily Larson, Jose Mariscal, and Behzad Bouzar to accommodate our growth. We are excited for them to join our coaching ranks!

John Hamel

Director of Coaching

Club Updates

Team Formation Meetings

Team formation meetings will take place Sunday, May 19th at 7:00pm in the Ballard High School Gym. Information on registration, volunteering, scholarships, new uniform ordering, and more about how the club operates will be presented. Teams will then break out in their own meetings to discuss philosophy, year-round schedule, and volunteer positions.

These meetings are not for High School Boys' teams who have already had their team formation meetings.

Most teams will begin practicing again the week of May 20th with a few high school boys’ teams beginning the week prior.

Coach's Corner - Body Shape for Effective Defending

Body shape, or body orientation, is a term used to describe the way a player faces, and how they use their body to their advantage.

Taking up the most effective body shape is a skill that is often said to come “naturally” to a player, but that is far from the truth. Correct or optimal body shape can be improved with work at practice. The earlier it is learned, the more “natural” it becomes as part of a player’s game.

Read our latest Coach's Corner on how you can improve your Body Shape and be a more effective defender.

Learn More

New Technical Director

We are extremely excited to announce the hiring of our new Technical Director, Derrek Falor. Derrek has been with the club for several years as both a coach and the Club's Mental Performance Coach.

Derrek brings a wealth of expertise and experience in soccer. He is a USSF A licensed coach, a certified Mental Performance Consultant and Psychologist, has a Masters in Sport Psychology, a degree in Exercise Science, and a goalkeeping diploma.

Derrek also has experience coaching at the collegiate level as an assistant at DePaul University, head coach for the Cleveland State Women’s program, and head coach of Western WA Women’s program. Derrek also was assistant coach and mental skills trainer for the Seattle Sounders U-23 team and he has coached the Lakeside Girls Varsity program for the past 10 years. He currently works as the mental skills trainer for UW Men’s Soccer, Seattle University Men’s Soccer, and Valparaiso Women’s Soccer.

As our club continues to grow, we look forward to the impact Derrek’s experience as a leader, professionalism, coach, and connections to the soccer community will have on our program and its families.

ECFC Overnight Camp

Camp Waskowitz is once again providing us with the overnight summer soccer camp in conjunction with Peter Fewing Soccer Camps. This is a great opportunity for players to get to bond with their teammates and other players by spending 3 nights at Camp Waskowitz in North Bend, WA. This camp is run by a combination of Camp Waskowitz staff, Peter Fewing Soccer Camp staff and coaches, and ECFC coaches. Players will spend time on the fields during each day grooming their skills and tactics, scrimmaging in the evenings, and having a fun summer camp experience at the same time.

This camp is for boys and girls ages 9-17 and friends and siblings of ECFC players who want to join are welcome.

Learn More and Register

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Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and stay up to date on everything that goes on in Emerald City FC.

Post your favorite photos/videos of players and be sure to tag us @emeraldcityfc and @emeraldcityfootball

Meet Coach Alex Jessup

Tell us about Yourself

Alex was born and raised in north Seattle and played soccer at Shoreline College. He began his coaching career with Emerald City following his playing career in 2010. Over the last 15 years he has coached in every age group from the Devs through U20 and the ECFC semi-professional women’s team. Additionally, he has experience coaching at Shoreline College, Inglemoor High School, Trinity Lutheran College, Seattle Preparatory School, and the WPL Academy.

What inspired you to get into coaching? I wasn’t good enough to play professionally! Sports were always my passion growing up and while a career playing wouldn’t be a realistic option, I could help others achieve growth and success in sports. Seeing the development of athletes through their playing careers, from where they begin to what they become is both rewarding and inspirational.

What is your role at ECFC and what does it entail?

This past year I’ve been the coach of F10 White, M10 White, and M05/06 White. My focus is less about achievement and more about development. While I want my teams to win and we have had many successes, I prioritize preparing them for their next team, whatever that may be.

Additionally I’m the Director of Goalkeeping for the Club. In this role I work with keepers of all ages. In the time that we have together I want to ensure that their fundamentals are solid and consistent, and that keepers are able to make the saves that they should make. We touch on all aspects of goalkeeping and develop our keepers to become as well rounded as possible.

Why do you coach at ECFC?

I enjoy the people I work with and have had plenty of jobs where this hasn’t been the case. To find an organization who truly puts the players first and cares about doing right for the kids is refreshing and inspiring. I’ve moved around a bit living as far north as Snohomish and as far south as Kent and I continue to work for ECFC because I know that this environment doesn’t exist with every club. I feel supported by our directors and my coworkers, and feel blessed to be in the position I’m in.

What is a fun fact about yourself?

My hobbies have always included athletic centric endeavors, and a couple of those that I enjoyed most were Australian Rules Football and being a professional wrestler! I was much better at Aussie rules, winning a national championship with the Seattle Grizzlies, but I equally enjoyed my time with both of them.

Photos Wanted

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ECFC Calendar

May

Team Formation Meetings

May

Practices Resume

June

Skagit Firecracker Tournament

July

ECFC Overnight Camp at Camp Waskowitz

August

Starfire Extreme Cup