March 1, 2020

Following considerable discussion among the club’s Executive Board, I am excited to announce today that Methacton United Soccer Club will be changing its name to FC Montco. While I will shortly outline several of the reasons behind the rebranding, our decision to move forward as FC Montco is firmly rooted in our belief that an updated identity allows the club to best serve the interests of all the children that participate in our programs.

As a parent, coach, family member or friend of the club, you may be asking yourself how do we serve the best interests of the players who make up our club? Simply stated, we must create an environment where every player, regardless of skill level, is exposed to an appropriate range of competition that helps them grow as a player and furthers their enjoyment of the game of soccer. This environment is critical across all four of our programs – intramural, DDP, travel and premier – and is best realized when we have multiple teams at each of the age levels in each our programs. For example, fielding only 3-4 teams per age group in our intramural program can lead to a less exciting playing experience as players face the same opponents week in and week out. Similarly, fielding only one travel team at each age group removes the natural competition that critically challenges our travel players to continue their desired developmental path. Again, we must keep our programs exciting and challenging across all four of our platforms by ensuring we have maximum participation at all levels.

So how does our new identity of FC Montco help us achieve that goal? It allows us to expand the potential number of families the club serves to drive higher participation across all of our programs. Over the past few years, we’ve seen meaningful growth at some of our older age groups from families that resided outside of Methacton School District. When asked why they had not considered our club earlier, they often indicated they thought Methacton United was a “small, school district based” club. This response has also been echoed in conversations many of our travel coaches have had with other clubs throughout the years. While we—all the members of Methacton United past and present—know just how untrue that statement is, we must also acknowledge that this perception may be preventing players and their families from considering our great club as their home. To overcome that perception, we must ensure that the families in the surrounding areas know that our programs are here to support the soccer needs of all of those in central Montgomery County.

By showcasing a larger geographic footprint in our brand, we hope to attract more players to the club. More players translate to more teams which in turn allows for greater competition and more diverse developmental opportunities at each our program levels. While we strongly believe that FC Montco will attract more players and families from many of the wider areas we already serve, we also remain keenly focused on continuing to serve the many families that already reside within the district. Methacton School District is where we are based and it is our hope that the FC Montco brand helps keep our best local talents in our program as opposed to them seeking out a “bigger name” club over the previously perceived “township club”. We are fortunate to be located at the center of the map of Montgomery County and want to use that location as a tool to draw in families from Harleysville, Norristown, Phoenixville, Lansdale, Trappe, Limerick and beyond.

Let me close by acknowledging that any change, particularly one as significant this, always brings with it the question of further change. To that end, please be assured that nothing else is changing about the club we all enjoy participating in. We will continue to have the best professional trainers in the area. Andy Wilkes will remain our Director of Coaching and he is excited at the prospect of our continued growth and the many new kids that will learn to love the game through FC Montco. Andy will continue to be supported by both Liam Woods and Mike Marks and we are looking to add an additional trainer to our staff this year. Our primary playing/practice locations will continue to be Heebner Park, along with most of Worcester Township and Lower Providence Township. Finally, the costs to play on our teams will remain stable.

We are energized by the growth of our club and look forward to connecting with all of our families under the FC Montco banner in the spring of 2020.

Thank you and as always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

John Larcinese
President
Methacton United Soccer Club / FC Montco