Chattanooga United Futbol Club has announced the hiring of Patrick Johnston as its Director of Coaching (DOC). The club, now entering its second year of existence, currently consists of 21 teams (10 girl’s teams, 11 boy’s teams) and has completed a successful inaugural year. Created with the intent of providing youth in the Chattanooga area a viable local club to represent and compete with the other soccer clubs in our geographical area, CUFC is now taking the next step.

“We have been able to make it through this first year. There were hardships, but as my fellow board members and I look back upon the season, we are very pleased with what has come about” says current CUFC President, Trevin Bernarding. “One thing we realized we needed in order to move forward was to bring in somebody who not only knows the game, but more importantly, knows what it takes to build a club and facilitate the best learning environment for players of ambition. We have a series of teams, but we needed to do something progressive to differentiate ourselves from the other options players have locally, and Pat is the answer. He has come on board with passion, commitment and most importantly, knowledge of what a club is and what it will take to get us there” adds Bernarding.

Johnston comes to Chattanooga with a pedigree of very impressive credentials. He played professionally both in the US and internationally in the 80’s and 90’s, long before Americans were even looked at seriously as soccer players. He was an All American player in college while starting all four years for perennial soccer powerhouse Duke University and was a member of the US National Youth and Olympic teams. His coaching CV through the years includes consulting work for numerous colleges, coaching numerous youth programs, as well as coaching at the professional level in the now labeled D 2 League. As a youth coach he was a Region III Olympic Development Program (ODP) staff coach from 1995-98 and was responsible for selecting and training players to go on and represent the US in international competitions. Johnston currently coaches the women’s program at Sewanee: University of the South and has the USSF A License.

In a conversation with Mr. Johnston, he was quick to point out the most compelling reason for his capability of directing CUFC, “I have always hungered for knowledge and methods to improve player performance. I have learned more about the game teaching it than I ever did playing it. The more soccer I learned, the more I realized that there was so much I did not know. Having felt I had seen all that there was to offer in the US, I went abroad and spent time in youth systems in South America and Europe to see what they were doing. The mentality there is so different. It’s in their social culture to cultivate capable soccer players and I was amazed at the manner in which they went about it. There was no doubt that they were one up on us in terms of approach, but I know that we are capable of outdoing them as our resources and talent pool dwarfs many of the places I observed. We just have to execute a proper plan which will come to fruition. I have no doubt that together we can do this. It is my ambition that CUFC will be affectionately known as a “player factory” and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to influence the development of these players.”

Terry Wright, CUFC Vice President, added “When we began talking to Pat about coming on board, some of the things that attracted him to CUFC are the level of our coaches, the commitment of our board members, and also the players themselves. It speaks volumes that in our first year of existence we had 13 players, more than any Tennessee soccer club within 100 miles, selected to the Tennessee Olympic Development Program. Many clubs don’t even mention ODP to their players, even though it is a measurement that all college coaches use. If individual goals and a plan to achieve them aren’t discussed, it’s a disservice to players. With Pat’s addition to our staff and his direct involvement with the training of CUFC teams, we are very excited about what the future holds for these kids.”

Due to his travels Johnston has become known as an authority on player development and has had articles in soccer publications such as Success in Soccer, a coaching magazine distributed in the US, UK and Germany, as well as Inside Soccer, Canada’s largest soccer publication. He also has many articles published on the web for such entities as Soccer365.com, Reuters and the BBC.

When labeling him as an authority, he is quick to laugh and say, “I may have learned a lot, but I realize there is much more that I don’t know. CUFC already has an impressive roster of coaches, and I can’t wait to talk and take part in training sessions with each one to learn everything I can from them.”

He concludes by stating, “I want CUFC to be a place for the population of Southeast TN to look at with pride and provide every serious soccer player out there with a place to learn the game and provide them with a platform to exhibit their talents so that they may go on to achieve whatever ambition it is they may have. And even more important to me is that they have a great time working to achieve that goal along the way, because in the end it is all about fun.”