TUESDAY, MAY 12 - JIMMY CONRAD

Developing a Style of Play: Defense

Jimmy Conrad is currently head coach of the San Francisco Glens in USL League Two. In the first episode of our 2020 SF Glens Webinar Series, he will dive into what it takes to develop a style of play on the defensive end.

As a player, Jimmy earned 28 caps with the U.S. Men’s National Team from 2005 through 2010 and helped anchor the back line as a starter in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. On the club level, he played 13 seasons in Major League Soccer for the San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting Kansas City, and Chivas USA, earning the MLS Defender of the Year award in 2005, the MLS Humanitarian of the Year award in 2009, and MLS Best XI honors four times. He was also selected to appear in six MLS All-Star Games and spent a stint at Lech Poznán in Poland.

Jimmy’s teams have won at every level; he retired in 2011 as one of a select few American players to have won a CONCACAF Gold Cup, an MLS Cup, a U.S. Open Cup, an NCAA National Championship, and an Under-20 Club Championship.

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THURSDAY, MAY 14 - MATT MARTIN

Developing a Scouting Network

Matt was influential in building out youth scouting networks for the some of the top clubs in Major League Soccer. He is currently Director of Scouting for the Soccer Syndicate. 

In this episode of our 2020 SF Glens Webinar Series, Matt will dive into the details of creating a scouting network and following the proper protocols set forth by the leagues.

Matt constructed the first domestic scouting network in Major League Soccer when the New York Red Bulls and Jeff Agoos hired him in 2008. He would later join Peter Vermes at Sporting Kansas City to strengthen their scouting operation; the club would capture the U.S. Open Cup and MLS Cup in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Matt's next stop was Portland Timbers FC in 2015 under Caleb Porter and Gavin Wilkinson, where as Director of Domestic Scouting, he was part of an organization that won the MLS Cup that season.

Now with The Soccer Syndicate, Matt continues to work on the concept of discovering talent for every path meaning that each club should have its own mix of Homegrown Youth Academy developed players, domestic and international players developed in the college ranks, whether four years or less, and young pros who fit the KPIs and profiles for the club.

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THURSDAY, MAY 14 - JUNIOR BURGOS

Q&A with El Salvador international and USL Championship playmaker

Junior grew up in San Bruno and attended Westmoor High School in Daly City, but made his name as a youth prospect on the San Francisco fields.

After his college days at San Jose State and then 
Cal Poly SLO, Junior was later drafted by Toronto FC and embarked on a pro career that has spanned nine years. Currently, he's a member of Las Vegas Lights FC in the USL Championship, where his head coach is U.S. National Team great Eric Wynalda. Internationally, Junior has racked up 22 caps for El Salvador, the country of his birth.

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FRIDAY, MAY 15 - ROY CARROLL

Q&A with former Manchester United and Northern Ireland Goalkeeper

In this episode of our 2020 SF Glens Webinar Series, we will enter a discussion with goalkeeper Roy Carroll, who will share his journey and what it took for him to rise from the lower leagues of English football all the way up to playing for the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team.

In a pro career spanning 15 seasons and 11 clubs, Roy won the Premier League and the FA Cup at United, the Greek Super League with Olympiacos, and amassed 45 caps at the international level. He was also named Danish Goalkeeper of the Year in 2009 for his exploits with Odense BK and received a Red Cross Humanitarian Award in 2001 after building a close relationship with a young fan who was battling leukemia.

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TUESDAY, MAY 19 - KIKE LIÑERO (10 a.m. PT)

Developing a Culture within a Club

NOTE: This webinar will be conducted in Spanish with an English translator.

Kike Liñero is the former U23 head coach and head scout of Athletic Club de Bilbao, which alongside Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are the only three clubs to never be relegated from LaLiga. Athletic Club have also won LaLiga eight times and the Copa del Rey 24 times—all despite a signing policy that is restricted to local players that are either born in the local Basque Country or had their youth formation there.

In this episode of our 2020 SF Glens Webinar Series, Kike will outline the culture behind Athletic Club's unique philosophy and explain how during his time, the club got the most out of its famed Lezama youth academy, which has developed a staggering 84 percent of its current first-team players. He will also discuss his time developing a culture in the academies at FC Seoul and Siheung Citizen FC in South Korea. 

During his time at Athletic Club as a scout, Kike was instrumental in recommending the signing of Javi Martínez and Santiago Ezquerro, who went on to win the Champions League with Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona. He also scouted and coached future Spanish international Markel Susaeta. As a coach for Athletic at various levels from U11 to U23, Kike helped develop the following players that have all been called up to Spain's senior team: Fernando Llorente, Aritz Aduriz, Iker Muniain, Ander Iturraspe, Beñat Etxeberría, and Oscar De Marcos. He currently teaches courses for the UEFA Pro License.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 (CONFIRMED) - QUINTON FORTUNE (10 a.m. PT)

 Q&A with Manchester United U23 coach and South African World Cup star 

NOTE: May 20 has been confirmed.

Quinton Fortune is currently the assistant coach for Manchester United's U23 team.

In this episode of our 2020 SF Glens Webinar Series, Quinton joins us for a Q&A session. During his 15-year professional career, the versatile midfielder/left back came up through Tottenham Hotspur's youth system before earning his first pro contract from Mallorca in La Liga. 

From there, he moved on to Atlético Madrid and subsequently Manchester United, where spanning eight seasons and over 100 appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson, Quinton won the Premier League, the Intercontinental Cup, and the Community Shield. On the international stage, Quinton earned 46 caps for South Africa and played in two World Cups. In the 2002 tournament, he was an influential player for "Bafana Bafana", notching a goal and assist in the group stage.

After his playing days were finished, he earned his coaching badges and joined Cardiff City FC's U21's staff as an assistant to his former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, now first-team coach at Manchester United. Last year, Quinton returned to the Red Devils as top assistant to Neil Wood for the U23 team.

Quinton also runs the Quinton Fortune Academy, which is aimed at youth players ages 6-13 and is designed to give access to a consistent high level of football coaching to a wide variety of passionate girls and boys.

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THURSDAY, MAY 21 - CHRISTIAN RIECKS (10 a.m. PT)

Developing Academy Standards / Small-Sided Games

Christian Riecks is the Academy Technical Director for Holstein Kiel in 2. Bundesliga. 

In this episode of our 2020 SF Glens Webinar Series, Christian will discuss how the staff at Holstein Kiel sets standards and utilizes small-sided games for their Academy, where he has been since 2012. Since his arrival, "The Storks" have ascended from the fourth to the second division in Germany, and in 2017-18, they were one win away from promotion to the Bundesliga top-flight despite having the smallest stadium in the league (10,200). Several academy graduates have been called up to strengthen the first team, which was in seventh place before COVID-19 postponed all play.

Holstein Kiel entered an official partnership with the San Francisco Glens in USL League Two in the summer of 2019. To kick off the agreement, Christian and U19 coach Dominik Glawogger ran a training camp for the Glens' U15 through U19 players in San Francisco.

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MONDAY, MAY 25 - FLEMMING PEDERSEN (10 a.m. PT)

Inside a Sustainable, and Successful Academy

Flemming Pedersen is the manager of FC Nordsjaelland in the Danish Superliga.

With an average age of just 22 on their first team in the Danish Superliga, FC Nordsjælland is committed to developing young players by offering them opportunities at the professional level.

FC Nordsjælland's vision is to ultimately build a team made up entirely of academy players thanks to its partnership with Right to Dream, which has led to a plethora of players homegrown from Denmark and signed from West Africa.

In this SF Glens Webinar episode, Flemming discusses what makes this unique project at FC Nordsjaelland not only so special, but successful and sustainable on the field.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 - JAZMIN AGUAS (5 p.m. PT)

Q&A with Liga MX Femenil and former Mexican YNT Star

Jazmin Aguas is currently a forward for CF Monterrey (a.k.a. Rayadas) in Liga MX Femenil, where she won the 2019 Apertura championship. In our latest Pro Player Hangout, Jazmin will take part in a Q&A about her well-traveled career.

Jazmin was born and raised in San Diego, but later became a Youth National member for Mexico. Before Rayadas, she was a player for clubs like CD Tijuana (Xolas) and Chivas. She also has ties to the Bay Area, having been a coach for Sacred Heart Cathedral.

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THURSDAY, MAY 28 - JASON DONOHUE & SEAN ST LEDGER (10 a.m. PT)

Developing a Style of Play: Attacking

Jason Donohue is the Republic of Ireland Under-15 head coach and a UEFA Pro License holder. Having started with the FAI since 2006, in addition to his coaching role, Jason also works in coach education for FAI, delivering UEFA B, A and Pro License courses. 

Sean St Ledger is the assistant coach for the Republic of Ireland Under-15 team. Sean had a successful playing career as a defender at every level in the Football League in England for the likes of Peterborough United, Preston North End, and Leicester City before moving to the United States to play in MLS for Orlando City and the Colorado Rapids. He also represented Ireland on the international level, earning 37 caps.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 2 - TOMMY THOMPSON - VIRTUAL TRAINING (5 p.m. PT)

Virtual Training with MLS Rising Star

Join the San Jose Earthquakes' Tommy Thompson this Tuesday, June 2 at 5pm on the SF Glens' Zoom account for virtual training!

And while we're thankful Tommy is gracious enough to do this session for our club, we're opening it to everyone else in the soccer community who wants to stay fit and stay ready for when we can finally all return to the field together!

Please register now so you can get the Zoom link and password. See you there!

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ABOUT TOMMY THOMPSON

Tommy Thompson is one of the top young right backs in Major League Soccer. Originally a Homegrown signing of the Quakes after playing college soccer at Indiana University, Tommy scored his first MLS goal on July 4, 2017, in the 2nd minute of a 4–2 loss to Atlanta United FC at Bobby Dodd Stadium. On August 7, he was named to the MLS Team of the Week after recording his third assist of the season in the Earthquakes' 2–1 victory over Columbus Crew SC on August 5. He was announced as a nominee for the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award on October 14, 2017. On October 22 of that year, he received San Jose's club award for Humanitarian of the Year after leading a number of youth clinics in the area and for actively aiding relief efforts in the wake of the 2017 California floods. Entering his seventh season with the Earthquakes, Tommy made 28 starts in 30 total appearances in 2019 with two goals and one assist.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 2 - DENIS IRWIN (10 a.m. PT)

Q&A w/ Manchester United & Republic of Ireland Legend

The great Denis Irwin joins us to provide the exclamation point to our SF Glens Webinar Series!

Denis is best known for his long and successful stint at Manchester United, where he established himself as one of the most important players in the United team that won a host of domestic and European trophies in his time there between 1990 and 2002. He has been regarded by Alex Ferguson as, pound for pound, his greatest ever signing.

Earlier in his career he played for Leeds United and then Oldham Athletic, and finished his career with a two-year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Denis, a native of Cork, was capped by the Republic of Ireland national side 56 times, scoring four goals and featuring in the side that reached the second round (last 16) at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Irwin is the joint most successful Irish footballer in history, a record he shares with fellow Manchester United stalwart Roy Keane, having won 19 trophies in his career.

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TBD - DAVE ROMNEY

Pro Player Hangout with MLS Defender

Join us for a Q&A session with current Major League Soccer defender Dave Romney!

Dave played his college soccer at USF, where he was teammates with current Glens Academy coaches Benkay Kajihara and Danny Kirkland. Dave also spent some time a trainer for the Glens.

As a pro, Dave worked his way up from LA Galaxy's second team to the first team, where he played 84 games over five seasons before getting traded in 2020 to MLS club Nashville SC, which was newly promoted from the USL Championship.

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