Seacoast United Enters WPSL

Seacoast United Soccer Club has announced that it intends to enter a women's team in Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) starting in 2010.  This league is a nationally run summer league geared primarily for college aged players who are on summer break from college. 

The team will play its home games at Exeter High School's Bill Ball Stadium.  The stadium will offer a professional environment for the new team to showcase women's soccer to Northern New England fans.

The NH club sees entry into the league as a means of continuing its development model for older players after they graduate from high school. 

"In the past, after our players moved on to college, we did not have a competitive environment to offer them when they returned from school in the summer,” says Seacoast United Girls Director of Coaching and WPSL Franchise General Manager Matthew Sprague. “We were looking for ways to allow our players to continue to develop and better prepare themselves for their sophomore, junior, or senior seasons.  The WPSL is the perfect situation for the players and will be the future bridge for our Club from our youth teams to a professional team."

The head coach for the new team will be Ian Burgess, a former a college All-American at West Virginia Wesleyan where he won a National Championship.  Burgess has coached as an assistant at WVW and served as Director of the West Virginia Olympic Development Program.  He has been a full time member of the Seacoast United staff for the past 9 years and has coached several youth teams to State Championships, Regional Finals, and National Finals.

Assistant Coach will be Matthew Sprague, who is currently the Girls' Director of Coaching for Seacoast United and will also fill the role of General Manager for the new WPSL team.  Sprague played his collegiate soccer at St. Anselm College, winning two conference championships and two ECAC Championships.  He has coached at the youth, high school, and ODP level and most recently has been coach of the U12 Girls' Advanced Training Program (ATP) and the Super 20 Women's Team.

Assistant Coach and Goalkeeper Coach will be Kelly Kelly.  Kelly was the starting keeper for Bentley College and went on to be the assistant coach for 3 seasons.  Kelly is a full time staff member at Seacoast United and is the Director of Media Relations for both the Club and more specifically, the WPSL team.  Kelly currently coaches all of the keepers in the Club U10-WPSL (40+) and is the coach for the U11 Advanced Training Program (ATP). 

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