Competitive soccer in Kenosha has set a new, unified course. This past week, Kenosha’s two competitive soccer clubs – Red Star Soccer Club and United FC – agreed to merge and combine their resources and talents to create one, united soccer club. The merged clubs will operate under the United FC name, with a new logo and coaching leadership geared to advance youth soccer in Southeastern Wisconsin. Leading the club will be faces well-known and recognized in the Kenosha soccer community: Troy Fabiano, Steve Domin and Vlatko Minic. The three will serve as Directors of Coaching for the club, and will be responsible for the overall leadership and further development of United FC.
The two clubs combined will encompass over 450 select club players, ranging from age 6 up through the high school ages. While the club’s home is Kenosha, its reach spans from southern Milwaukee to northern Illinois.
The reason for the merger was simple: to provide the best soccer training and skill development for the youth of the community. Unlike surrounding communities that have seen splintered clubs and differing soccer philosophies, United FC and Red Star decided to buck this trend seeing an opportunity for growth and combined success. That is not to say this merger happened overnight. It literally took years, in large part to make sure things were done right and to ensure that a quality program and framework were put in place. That framework begins with the three Directors of Coaching – Fabiano, Minic and Domin.
Fabiano and Minic were the founders and directors of Red Star, while Domin served the same role for United FC. The three have an unsurpassed passion for soccer and, more importantly, for teaching soccer and developing young players so they reach their highest potential – not only individually, but from a team perspective. The three are confident that their past on-the-field, individual successes, will likewise be achieved by this new, united soccer club, but this time through their own teamwork.
Troy Fabiano currently serves as Head Coach of the UW-Parkside Women’s Soccer Team, a position he has held for over a decade. He is a 3-time GLVC Coach of the Year recipient (years 2003, 2004 and 2008), and was named 2008 Central Region Coach of the Year. His teams have been nationally ranked, making 3 NCAA appearances with a regional championship in 2008, and he has compiled a near .800 winning percentage over the past 7 years. His record over the past seven years has been 111-27-3. He has helped mentor and develop 4 NCAA All-Americans. In 2008, his UW-Parkside team went undefeated in the regular season. Before coming to Parkside, Fabiano was an assistant coach at Robert Morris and head men’s coach at Division I Eastern Illinois. Before coaching, Fabiano was a state-recognized player for Bradford High School, an All-Conference player at NCAA Division I Robert Morris, and played soccer professionally for the Pittsburgh Stingers, Milwaukee Wave and Milwaukee Rampage. Fabiano holds the highest coaching license awarded by the United States Soccer Federation and an advanced national diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). He is continually recognized as one of the elite coaches and developers of youth soccer players in the region.
Steve Domin currently serves as Head Coach of Men’s Soccer at Carthage College, a position he has held for over 15 years (holding a combined 277-173-36 overall NCAA record) and is in his sixth year as Director of Soccer operations. Domin was named CCIW "Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year" in both 1996 and 2007. His 2007 men's team won the CCIW title and qualified for the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer National Championships, and his 2008 squad reached the finals of the CCIW Men’s Soccer Tournament and tied for the Tournament Championship. Domin's teams have qualified for the CCIW tournament championships in each year the tournament has been in existence. Domin coached the Carthage women’s soccer team from 1995 to 2004, compiling a 130-59-9 in 10 years (ranked 35th all-time in NCAA) and winning a CCIW co-championship in 2001. Domin holds an advanced national coaching license from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and a national license from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). Coach Domin played competitive soccer for the Chicago Magic Soccer Club, the Naperville Soccer Association, Naperville North High School, and at Carthage College
Vlatko Minic currently serves as Head Coach of Girl’s Soccer at St. Joseph High School, a team that has seen unprecedented success during his tenure. Prior to St. Joe’s, Minic was an assistant coach for four seasons at UW-Parkside where he helped Rangers win two conference titles and make two NCAA appearances. At the club soccer level, Minic’s Red Star teams have achieved national recognition and are consistently viewed as the best trained and disciplined teams in the state. He is the first club coach to take teams from the Racine or Kenosha area to the U.S. Youth Soccer Midwest Regional League (MRL) status. Before coaching, Minic was an all-conference soccer player at Bradford High School. He then went on to the play at the University of
Wisconsin as a scholarship player, and was part of the building block that saw Wisconsin win a national Championship in 1995. Minic then played professionally for the Milwaukee Rampage. He is also has licensed as a coach by USSF.
The three coaching directors see this as a win-win scenario for both clubs and, more importantly, for soccer in this area. Simply put, it allows more kids the opportunity to get top level soccer training by the best, brightest and most-accomplished coaches in the area.
Placements and try-outs for United FC are as follows: June 8 and 9 (5:30-7 pm) for kids U6 through U10; June 7, 8 and 9 (5:15 to 6:45 pm) for kids U11 & U13; June 7 and 8 (7-8:15 pm) for kids U12 & U14; June 25 (6-8 pm) and June 26 (9:30-11:30 am) for U15-18 Girls; July 9 (6-8 pm) and July 10 (9:30-11:30 am) for U15-18 Boys. All placements and try-outs will be at Kenosha’s Anderson Park (26th Avenue and 87th Place), except for U15-18 Boys which will be held at Carthage College (2001 Alford Park Drive).
