FC Lehigh History
The idea of developing an elite soccer club in the Lehigh Valley has been a dream of Dean Koski’s, for the past decade. As a resident of Bethlehem for the past 16 years and Men’s Head Coach at Lehigh University for the past 15 years, Coach Koski has instructed numerous coaching courses for parent coaches, assisted GBSL and other organizations in training parent coaches, directed the largest youth soccer camps in eastern Pennsylvania, established a recreational soccer program in Hanover Township and played for Sunburst S.C. for a decade under the direction of Ed Csongradi, a soccer icon in the Lehigh Valley.
Throughout this time, Coach Koski observed that the Lehigh Valley had thousands and thousands of soccer players competing at all ages. The Valley had a long and storied history of soccer dating back to the national champions Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club (1913-1930), which was arguably the most winning soccer team in US history. Interestingly, the most recent professional teams were the Pennsylvania Stoners (1979-1983) and the Lehigh Valley Steam(1999), which folded after a single season because it could not secure a suitable venue to play in. There was a strong soccer lineage in this area and clubs, leagues, and recreational programs grew rapidly. Unfortunately, the development of soccer fields did not keep up with the growth nor did the development of coaches and players. For the past 20 years, the only nationally distinctive soccer team in the Lehigh Valley was the Sunburst S.C. a men’s team that reached the “Elite 8” in the US Amateur Cup back in the late 90’s.
It became apparent that there was a “developmental void” within our youth programs and with our parent coaches. Coach Koski decided that it was time be an agent of influence, rather than just a supporter of youth soccer. In the spring of 2006, he met with two coaches, Sean Topping, Men’s Soccer Coach of Muhlenberg College and Dave Weitzman, arguably the most experienced professional soccer coach in the area, to talk about changing the club soccer landscape in the Lehigh Valley. As natives of the area and players in the youth system, they had perhaps the best perspective of the “developmental void” that exists today and helped lead the creation of FC Lehigh.
The group of three brought some of the best soccer and business minds in the Valley together and after eight months of research, meetings, focus groups and planning, FC Lehigh was born with this mission:
To establish an elite soccer club that emphasizes, learning, leadership, sportsmanship and the development of complete soccer players. We will strive to prepare teams and players to compete at the highest levels of club, college, professional, and international competition.
The Coaching staff for FC Lehigh involves coaches from Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College, Moravian College and DeSales University and will be the first club in the Valley, if not the country, to boast more than a dozen college coaches.
FC Lehigh will begin it’s inaugural season in the Fall of 2007 and is committed to putting Lehigh Valley soccer on the national landscape in the near future.
