Parents,

I grew up in the area, but my children were born out of state. We returned to the area in 2021 and our kids attend Robious. I played Midlo blast travel soccer and my brother was a Pocoshock Panther with those ugly yellow and black jerseys. Even back then FC Richmond has always had the reputation of being the best soccer club around. Upon our return to Richmond we quickly signed our son up for the Saturday morning classes with the amazing coaches who have skillfully managed all our little ones, Tuesday skills sessions and U5 rec league. We love the FC community, we proudly rock the magnet on our car and our weekly soccer routine is the best part of the week for our family. We have had some really skilled coaches who have taught our kids amazing things and we have had some really amazing coaches who were just the right people at the right time for our kids at that point. I coached middle school soccer for many years and begrudgingly did one year coaching varsity soccer. Having never been good at soccer myself, my coaching prowess comes in seeing what kids are good at and having them do that thing as much as they can and motivating them to do it in a positive way that I can feel proud of. Early on in my coaching days I was voluntold to referee some games if I wanted to coach in a certain league. It was a horrible experience and I have never yelled at a referee ever since. When it was time for my daughter to be like her older brother and dawn the FC Richmond baby blue jersey it was suggested that I coach... “Who me? No way? I don’t have the temperament… sorry the little ones… who cry??? nah I’m cool no thanks.” 

I’m currently in the middle of my second season coaching U5 rec. Last season we were light blue “Team Ice” and this season we are the “Green Machine”. This week and last week the teams we played against had volunteer coaches who maybe were in high school?? I am not here to slight those coaches; they do an amazing job I could never have done at that age. Somehow during these games I looked at the sidelines and they are full of healthy, able bodied (some seen juggling soccer balls), young adults who hopefully after reading the right email, show up, show out and coach their kids soccer team. Guys... I understand how scary it seems I have been in your shoes, but if the highschoolers who are volunteering to coach them can do it, surely all you accomplished professionals and involved parents can get out there and have fun with the kids. It takes no more of a time commitment than just sitting on the sideline during practice or games but you get to participate and have fun with the kids(one of them being your own!) I am not a perfect coach, our practices turn into dumpster fires, we pour out each others waters, we use our hands, we push when we should kick the ball instead. But we have fun, we laugh, we fall over, we make silly names, play silly games and most importantly we play soccer! We also score a ridiculous amount of goals. Because really at this age and stage you really only need to tell the kids which way the goal is and that they should score in it as many times as possible during practice and games. If you can tell a child to stop doing something they shouldn't be doing and how to have fun kicking the ball in the goal, then you are fully equipped to coach a rec soccer team. FC is amazing. They will do optional training for you, there's an app that has practice plans, youtube is an amazing resource as are other parents who could co-coach with you so the burden isn't on one person's shoulders.

Parents, I promise you this is not something that people often regret after they decide to do it. Come on out and have fun with us.                                                                          - Coach O.

Wondering what division your child is in this coming season??

Fall 2025 is 2025-26 SEASON -- find your players birth year on the left and look under the 3rd column (2025-26 SEASON) to see what division they will be in this Fall! If you enter their birthdate correctly in PlayMetrics, it will automatically show you which division they would be assigned and which programs are available in that division.