MARTIN UNITED SOCCER CLUB - Key Persons
Adam is from London, England. He is a football (soccer) nut and started playing when he was six years old. The sport was a breath of fresh air based on a difficult start to life for Adam.
When he was 16, Adam played for a season with English League side Charlton Athletic under their YTS (youth training scheme) and started his broader knowledge and insight in to the professional level.
After the year was up, Adam played for a variety of semi professional clubs in London, England for 10 years.
Adam moved to America when he was 26, and has played with many local teams / leagues. Adam is well known on the South Florida adult league circuit. Adam has coached for the Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens Varsity boys team for 2 years. Adam has been coaching with Martin United for 2 years and has a USSF D License.
Job Titles:
- HEAD COACH / U10 Boys TeamLiga Academy
AJ Diaz a native of Miami springs a 4 year varsity soccer starter and all- Dade selection for Miami springs senior high school and an all- state kicker for the varsity football team. AJ turned down some small soccer offers for a full athletic scholarship to kick at The University of Alabama where he lettered. After college, AJ played in the semi pro leagues for soccer in Miami for a few seasons before beginning his coaching career at Miami Southridge Senior High School coaching the Boys Varsity soccer team. During his tenure at Miami Southridge he coached a player named Federico Agreda who would go on to play at division 1 Syracuse University. AJ during his time at Southridge was recruited to coach at Miami Strike Force and served as assistant to former Colombian national player Luis Perea. AJ continued his coaching at Mako Soccer Club in Port St Lucie, as the assistant to the boys U18 squad under Bernardo Quintero, and eventually securing a head coaching position at South Fork High School in Stuart, FL. in year 2016. Arriving in 2019, we welcome AJ to our MUSC family. AJ became the new head coach of Jensen Beach High School Boys varsity soccer team from the 2022/23 season.
Job Titles:
- Coach
- RECREATIONAL COMMISSIONER / JENSEN BEACH
Brent Kauffman is a Martin United coach for both the girls and boys programs.
Brent, like many others, started coaching as a requirement from his kids soccer club's need for volunteer parents to help out. Brent was a volunteer coach at MAKO Soccer Club before joining Martin United as a head coach for a competitive girls U11 team back in 2016. Brent has a USSF Grassroots (E license) License and a USSF National D License.
Brent has coached from U6 thru U14 at Martin United and is a valuable servant and supporter of the game of soccer.
Job Titles:
- Coach
- Website / Social Media Commisioner
Brian joined the board in March, 2018. Brian has been a volunteer coach in the micro program for two years and is now helping the club with it's website design & build plus any internet / social media activities.
Brian has a USSF E License.
Brian runs his business out of Stuart and his family is active within the community.
Dr Noor Yono is a local mother from Palm city. Both of her kids are members of the Martin United Soccer club. Her family enjoys soccer. When not busy planning the week's soccer schedule or washing soccer uniforms, she is a local neurologist who loves serving the community. She had lived in this area since 2015. She is committed to help develop Martin United Soccer Club and build connections with our local community.
Ed is the club's "recreational registrar" and the club's recreational equipment co-ordinator. Ed is responsible for ensuring all the data that is entered into the FYSA GotSport platform is correct and that players and coaches are verified.
Ed is a lifelong basketball player and now a basketball referee. Ed made the transition to soccer when his oldest daughter was four, coaching her and several other four and five year old at the YMCA. Little did he know that nine years later, all three of his children would play competitive soccer, and he would have an active role in a soccer club! Ed is a fantastic resource for anything he gets involved with at Martin United.
Where needed, Ed has filled many positions within the club: volunteer, vice-president, recreational coach, registrar, competitive coach, competitive commissioner, field scheduler, recreational commissioner, referee, and more. Often taking on too much, Ed is driven by a desire to provide an orderly learning environment for the children in our community and its positive effect on our community's youth.
Hector has recently moved into the Stuart area from Philadephia were he was a well known coach and club leader. Hector is excited for the opportunity to coach at Martin United and develop the players on and off the field.
Hector recently vacated the role of Director of Coaching/Vice President with Philadelphia SC Coppa and has been a long-time assistant coach and goalie coach at LaSalle College High School. Under his direction, the PSC Coppa placed two teams in National League P.R.O. in 2021-2022, including the 2005 Girls Rage, who finished as USYS National Finalist in 2021. The club has also won numerous EPYSA State Cup championships during his tenure as director. Romero also coaches the club's highly successful 23U team that participates in the EDP 23U League, and is an assistant coach at NCAA Division 3 program Rutgers Camden. As a player, he was a two-time All-Catholic League selection at LaSalle College High School and went on to play at Chowan University.
Hector holds a USSF "D " license
Job Titles:
- Competitive Commissioner & Referee Assignor
Jason is the Competitive Commissioner at Martin United Soccer Club and has previously served as an EOD as the club secretary in previous years. The competitive commissioner responsibilities include field scheduling, league liaison and our competitive team manager coordinator / contact point. Jason is the club's referee assignor.
Jason joined the club as a volunteer coach since 2014 and has been on the executive board of directors since 2017. He was a member of the board of directors since 2015.
Jason has been involved with the Stuart and Palm City soccer community since 2012 in various capacities by promoting positive environments for learning, including coaching and volunteering.
Jason has been involved in various volunteer positions with youth sport leagues in the area as a player, coach and official. He was part of the team that helped develop Martin United's competitive soccer program. Jason and his 4 children are actively involved in competitive youth sports including soccer, volleyball, and taekwondo in the Treasure Coast.
Jason is a certified Grade 8 soccer referee and valuable member of Martin United and youth sports on the Treasure Coast.
John was born and raised in the southern part of Germany bordering on France, he played for his hometown team of Maximiliansau before moving on to play for FSSV Karlsruhe which was in the Landesliga at the time. Prior to joining the service John spent a season with FV Lauda which made history by winning the Baden-Wuertemberg Amateur Cup which saw them gain an automatic berth for the DFB Pokal as the lowest amateur team. While in the service John was selected as a member of the All-Army team and his performance in the Inter-service tournament (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) warranted selection to the Inter-service team which represented the US at the 1983 Soldier Olympiad. He also played and captained Jackson FC in South Carolina to the Men's state title in 1987.
While stationed in Germany John coached a U12 team and never looked back, he continued state side as an assistant to Heidi Ayers, one of the first female A-licensed coaches and they took their U12B to the state final. After relocating to Florida in 1991 John began coaching at Jensen Beach Soccer Club where he was responsible for the U15 and U16 boys program in 1995 he took the U15B to the Regional Div II final while the U16B went to the Div I final respectively. John joined the newly formed TCU in 1996 where his U16B won the state title that year. When he became Head Coach of the South Fork High School program in 1997 he joined Hobe Sound Soccer Club to help build the feeder program and has served as the Director of Training for the past five seasons. His teams have reached the Regional finals on six different occasions winning State on two of them.
Few people have impacted soccer on the Treasure Coast as has John Mullen for more than two decades with Treasure Coast United, Jensen Beach Soccer Club, Hobe Sound Soccer Club, FC Florida, and South Fork High School. Of John's many successes, notable are his leading Hobe Sound's 97/98 boys to a Region A Cup championships in 2014 and the finals in 2016. He took on the 99/00 girls at a time when the team was coachless and always puts the best interests of the kids and their overall development first. John has spent the past two years working with a team that includes a player who made U.S. Soccer's Olympic Development Program as one of the top 20 in the state. As an Army veteran, John displays the skill of quiet leadership in all he does for youth soccer and brings a meticulous work ethic to all he does. As an Arsenal FC supporter, John has developed a resilient patience.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Coach / Goalkeeper Coach / U12 Boys TeamLiga Academy
Job Titles:
- HEAD COACH / U12 Boys TeamLiga Academy
For the previous two seasons on a 9v9 field, Matt has been preparing the 2010 girls group for 11v11 play at U13.
Matt is very passionate about soccer both as a player and as a youth coach. Matt has been coaching kids and playing senior league soccer for many years in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast. Matt's most recent experience was coaching for three years in the FC Florida girls program and he has been coaching in the Martin United's competitive program for five years developing young players from 7v7 to 9v9 and then from 9v9 to 11v11 sized games.
Matt holds a USSF Grassroots License and will be sitting his USSF D license in the summer of 2019.
Rabih has been with Martin United for five years. Rabih soccer expereince and knowledge comes from a diverse cultural back ground of Lebanese, European and Latin America.
He began coaching kids at Martin United in 2020 in our micros program. Rabih and his wife are huge supporters of the community here in Martin County. Just really good people to have around the club and the community. Rabih has trained teams at the small sided field size of 7v7. Rabih's main focus is technical at 7v7, but also on the younger player's ability to process and execute the actions and habits that are needed through guided discovery questioning.
Job Titles:
- Competitive Program Director / Club President / Zone Director U8 Thru U15
- President & Director of Coaching
Richard is responsible for all programs at Martin United. He is also the President of Martin United Soccer Club and founder. "El Jefe" or ‘El Prez" has his bio available to view on the "directors" page.
Richard has developed players to understand the qualities needed to achieve successful experiences in soccer and in life, from grassroots levels thru to national competitive events. He has coached teams at all age and gender groups at Martin United. Richard created the Martin United philosophy for player and coach development and he is responsible for ensuring his coaches and trainers deliver that vision.
Richard leads the development of players in Martin United's "Micro" player program for players aged U8, U7, U6, U5 and U4.
Richard is the head coach of the U15 Adrenalina girls team and the U14 Adrenalina girls team.
Richard, along with Chad Thimons, were both appointed as executive directors of Stuart Youth Soccer Club non profit organization in January 2013 by the Florida Youth Soccer Association (FYSA) board of directors. The goal was to reinvigorate youth soccer in the club's catchment area of Stuart, Okeechobee, Indiantown, Palm City and the western areas of Martin County. The "Stuart Breakers" as they were once known had over 1,000 participants in the club at its peak in the 1980s and 1990s and sadly by 2011 had less than 20 players registered. Richard and Chad immediately renamed the club from Stuart Youth Soccer to Martin United Soccer Club with the approval of the FYSA at their annual AGM.
Richard has been involved in youth soccer since 2005 when he first started coaching at Stuart Youth Soccer Club. After five and a half seasons Richard moved to Jensen Beach Soccer Club in August 2011 as a coach of a U13 boys team making the transition from small sided games to the full size field. Richard soon became an executive board member, as Secretary, thru to 2013. Part of Richard's responsibilities were to attend the Treasure Coast Soccer League monthly board meetings in 2011.
In January 2012 Richard was motioned in to the position of president of the Treasure Coast Soccer League and held that position until January 2016. Richard's drive and new energy helped to reinvigorate the youth participation in league's events. Richard worked with Thomas Rungen to create and develop the Development Pathway League "DPL" strategey. Richard and his TCSL board of directors successfully implemented the DPL into the TCSL schedule and it has proven to be an excellent stepping stone for players showing potential to move from recreational soccer season to experience competitive soccer benchmarks without making the commitment too soon to a higher level. The TCSL's DPL has since help to develop hundreds of confident, technical players from all member clubs within the TCSL. As president of the TCSL, Richard's core focus was on education the participants. Not only the youth participants but also the junior and senior referees, volunteer coaches and most importantly, the spectators and the parents. The messages were simple to spectators, positive reinforcement only, no sideline coaching, no abusive remarks to officials. Model behavior from all was expected. Richard gave up much of his time attending event jamborees and tournaments to share this philosophy with all the spectators before each game. Scores and standings were removed so the goals were changed from executing to win to executing to develop. It proved that education works and all the players benefited from playing in an positive game day environment.
Richard has continued with his on personal education during this period and he currently holds a USSF National C license and also the USSF National Youth License.
Richard's philosophy for Martin United is simple. It is to create an environment where mistakes are viewed as a learning opportunity for everyone by using guided discovery educational techniques. Richard see's the game of soccer as a fun, problem solving game which challenges participants mental, physical, psychosocial, cognitive abilities and technical skill. Mastery off all is our goal. Participants are defined as players, officials, coaches and spectators / parents.
Martin United has since developed quickly under Richard's leadership and within two years the club soon grew from just a recreational club to include a travel program. Today, after four years of sustained growth Martin United has over 400 active member families participating in Martin United 2017/18 soccer programs. What makes Richard proud is the fact that many of the competitive soccer teams at Martin United are populated by players who joined Martin United as grass roots recreational players and have developed within the safety of Martin United's philosophy.
Richard coaches through-out the clubs programs and participates in all the grass roots micro player programs, the DPL season and the competitive program. His focus during the recreational program is more on the volunteer coaches rather than the individual players.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President of Martin United Soccer
Ryan is the Vice President of Martin United Soccer. This is a volunteer position. Ryan has been our VP since 2015. Previous to that Ryan has been a volunteer coach, and Club Secretary on the executive board.
Ryan became involved, as most parents do, when his daughter's soccer team needed a coach. He stepped up and was immediately hooked. He loves helping the kids learn and grow.
Volunteering time and energy is always rewarded by the kids appreciation and growth. Ryan's favorite part of coaching is the reward gained by seeing the kids execute what was learned in training in the game settings and the camaraderie that the players develop with each other.
Ryan is very proud to be at Martin United as our club has consistently implemented our "player first" philosophy both by educating the club members that the growth of the player is more important than the "winning" on the scorecard and by our actions taken as board members.
Ryan has a USSF National E License and plans to continue his soccer education.
Job Titles:
- RECREATIONAL COMMISSIONER / PALM CITY
Scott has been involved with Martin United Soccer Club since it started and has coached both of his son's in our recreational program as a volunteer coach.
Scott was appointed to the volunteer board of directors in the role of Recreational Commissioner in February 2019.
Job Titles:
- Executive Board - Secretary
Shaun own's his own engineering business here locally in Palm City. Shaun and his family have been very active with the club for the past six years. Both he and his wife have volunteered many hours to the programs.
Shaun's efforts were recognized and he was appointed to the Martin United board of directors in March 2018. Shaun has been very active volunteer in our micro program. He also manages our league participation, as the club's representative with the PBSL and the SFUYSA. He is always supportive behind the scenes with a proactive support of the club, the community and the competitive teams.
In July of 2021 Shaun joined the Executive Board of Directors and is currently the club's secretary.
Job Titles:
- COACH
- HEAD
- Coach of the 2004 Boys
Stuart Duffin is head coach of the 2004 Boys team and an assistant coach on the 2010 Girls team.
"Stu" is a former player at Bristol City Football Club which play in the English league. Stuart played from 1992-1995 at the Championship division level for "The Cherries". Following his time with Bristol City, Stuart then played for Stafford Rangers F.C. in the English Conference League, until the end of the 1995 season. After that, Stuart focused his soccer and personal educational development in the USA.
Stuart studied at Hofstra University in New York from 1995-1999, where he received a soccer scholarship. While at Hofstra, he was America East Conference Player of the Year, 1997-98; Regional All-American 1st team selection, Fall 1997; All-America East Conference 1st team selection, Fall 1997 and 1998; Hofstra University Soccer MVP, 1996-97. Stuart's 50 career goals still stands as school record.
From, 2001-2003, he played for the New York Freedom in the USL D-3 Pro League.
Since moving to Florida in 2003, his soccer career has mainly revolved around local tournament invites although a regular figure in the Copa Latina tournament in Miami. Stuart was voted MVP of the pre-Copa Latina tournament in 2009.
Since 2003 Stuart has been a member of the Mako Soccer Club professional training staff. There, he provided technical training for Mako Soccer Club recreational and select teams.
Stuart was instrumental in developing the Mako Soccer Academy, which is designed to develop young players technical ability from an early age. In 2013, Stuart became the Director of Coaching at Mako Soccer Club and successfully guided the coaches of the club to improve player development and performance levels. The club had its best years of competition at the younger age groups under Stuart's leadership and also had 3 teams in the round of 16 of State Cup in 2015.
Todd is the Treasurer at Martin United Soccer Club. This is a volunteer position. Todd joined the club as a volunteer coach in 2014 and joined the board of directors in 2015. Todd become an executive board member in 2016.
Todd is inspired by the "a-ha moment" when a player (at any age) executes a new skill from something that he has learnt in training or copied from a another player.
Todd is proud our club philosophy and openly shares that he is in it for the kids and their development; not only the wins. Todd is a big believer in technical before tactical development.
Todd holds a USSF National E License.