FC Wisconsin Nationals continues to add to its coaching staff for the 2017-2018 season. The club is excited to announce that starting with immediate effect, former Croatians Eagles coach Jim McNamara will join the staff.

FC Wisconsin Nationals continues to add to its coaching staff for the 2017-2018 season. The club is excited to announce that starting with immediate effect, former Croatians Eagles coach Jim McNamara will join the staff. 

McNamara has a wealth of coaching experience having coached at both the High School and Club level for over 25 years. As the Head Coach at Warren Township High School McNamara led the program to unprecedented success winning multiple Conference Championships as well as State Championship appearances. In his 15 years of High School coaching he has compiled a record of 213-108-13 and helped to develop numerous players to play at the collegiate level at the NCAA I, II, III and NAIA levels.

Along with numerous awards for helping develop top youth players, McNamara has been Named Sectional Coach of the Year for Northern Illinois twice and was a finalist for State Coach of the Year both times.

McNamara will primarily work within the FC Wisconsin U11-U12 Program, while also assisting with High School aged teams.

“We are extremely excited to have someone of Jim’s experience join our coaching staff. Jim has a wealth of experience at all levels in the game and has proved to be an excellent developer of young talent. Along with current coach Brent Behnke we feel we have two excellent lead coaches within our U11-U12 Program that excel at developing young ambitious players to be successful at the older ages. Jim had numerous offers from other clubs and we are thrilled that he has chosen to bring his expertize to FC Wisconsin” said Co-DOC Ben Shepherd.

After 16 years of coaching at the high school, McNamara moved onto a new journey in the club realm. He has been a staff coach at Elm Grove Soccer Club and Croatian Eagles the last 9

years working with all age groups from U10-U23 boys and girls. McNamara has played a key role in running the U10-U13 Youth Program at Croatian Eagles as well as working with the Croatians U23’s and successful Men’s PLA Team.

“I have always recognized the potential of many aspects of soccer. Ben Shepherd and Billy Solberg and all the FC staff do a wonderful job of developing and fostering the growth of each individual player combined in the team environment. To me, the greatest tool we can give each young player is the ability to continue their growth so they may become the player they desire to be. FC Wisconsin provides a unique, top level approach that will guide players into the future of their game for a very long time. I am excited to be chosen as a staff coach and look forward to many years in this organization,” said Coach McNamara.

“The hiring of Coach McNamara continues to show how seriously the club takes player development at all ages within all programs. As a club we are continually striving to improve and add quality coaches to our already elite staff. The addition of Jim along with the recent return of Josh Rohde highlights our continued commitment to true long-term player development for all players under the FC Wisconsin curriculum” said Co-DOC Billy Solberg.