KANSAS CITY, Mo. — United Soccer Coaches and the U.S. Armed Forces Sports Council announced Tuesday they have re-submitted their proposed amendment to the U.S. Soccer bylaws that would ensure the two associations have representation on the U.S. Soccer board of directors.
In a United Soccer Coachjes press release, it was stated “that as the governing body of soccer in the United States, the U.S. Soccer Federation represents key stakeholders in the game. Under the federation’s current bylaws, however, two long-time members of the Federation are denied the right to vote for a representative on its board of directors. One is United Soccer Coaches, which represents one of the essential stakeholders in the game, coaches. The other, is the United States Armed Forces Sports Council, which represents the men and women from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces that play on sports teams around the world.”
The proposed bylaw amendment, sponsored by United Soccer Coaches and the U.S. Armed Forces Sports Council, would correct this by giving each Associate Member a vote for the at-large board member that represents them.
“We believe this is an important bylaw change to ensure that all U.S. Soccer members have a voice at the Board level,” United Soccer Coaches CEO Lynn Berling-Manuel said in a statement. “We were encouraged by the support we received last year from the other member groups and we are committed to seeing this bylaw through to its passing.”
The bylaw amendment will be brought before the U.S. Soccer National Council at the Annual General Meeting in Nashville, Tenn. from Feb. 13-16. The bylaw must receive a two-thirds vote to pass.
“United Soccer Coaches embraces the vision of being the trusted and unifying voice, advocate, and partner for coaches of all levels of the game,” United Soccer Coaches president, Kevin Sims said. “In that spirit, we think it right that coaches have a voice in the U.S. Soccer Board room. We think all associate members deserve this voice, signifying unity and inclusion throughout the soccer community.”
As associate members of U.S. Soccer, United Soccer Coaches and the U.S. Armed Forces Sports Council are able to vote for national officers, bylaws, annual budget and run for the board position, but they do not have a vote for the at-large board member that represents them. Associate member is a category of U.S. Soccer members that do not register players. Associate members had a full seat on the board until the 2006 board restructuring that reduced the board from over 40 members to its current size of 14 voting members.
