United Soccer Coaches: Board of Directors election begins

Voting began April 16 for the Board of Directors of United Soccer Coaches, the 84-year-old organization that is amid a financial crisis.

United Soccer Coaches, whose CEO Geoff VanDeusen departed in April 2024 and has not been replaced, needed to borrow funds from its foundation and U.S. Soccer to host its annual convention in Chicago last January.

Only one of the 18 candidates (below) running for a board position served on the most recent board.

Voting ends on April 23 in the election that was delayed because: “the transition to the revised Bylaws has taken more time than anticipated. … On the advice of the Association’s legal counsel, the Board created a new election timeline.”

The bylaws changes included a restructuring designed to establish a board made up of directors with targeted qualifications.

The Candidates: Board of Directors
President:
Haroot Hakopian
Paul Payne
Treasurer:
Alex Lee
Jason Neumann
Secretary:
Jennifer Pfeiffer
Mark Schwemer
Shaun Smithson
Vice President of Awards & Recognition:
Rob Andrulis
Mauricio Lozada
Vice President of Education:
Beverly Biancur
Howard Patterson
Mike Singleton
Vice President of Events and Operations:
Mike Covone
Hector Morales, Jr.
John O’Rourke
Vice President of Membership and Communities:
Greg Davidson
Dan Tuuri
Greg Winkler
• Rank-order voting will determine winner for each postion.
• Statements and resumes of each candidate can be found HERE.

The criteria for presidential eligibility includes having served on the board for at least two years in an appointed or elected position. Haroot Hakopian has been on the board for the last six years. Paul Payne had previously been on the board for 11 years and served as president in 2011.

United Soccer Coaches’ March 31 announcement, “2025 Board of Directors Self-Nominations Open,” included this note: “In the next issue of the Soccer Journal, Mike Lynch addresses our members as the Association’s incoming President. After the Journal’s publication, Mike resigned from the Board and removed his self-nomination from the 2025 elections.”

Hakopian is the only candidate running for a board position in this election who served on the most recent board.

Those elected to the board will select four appointed directors, which could include up to two members of the previous board. In the wake of resignations and requests not be considered, the two members of the previous board who could return are Greg Hubbard, who has been serving as treasurer, and Hakopian if he isn’t elected president.

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