U.S. SOCCER: Howe resigns as director of coaching education

Bobby Howe, the Director of Coaching Education for the United States Soccer Federation, announced today that he was stepping down from his position to pursue other coaching opportunities. “While I have enjoyed my four years in this position at the Federation, I feel that the time is right for me to move in a different direction,” said the 54-year-old Howe. In his role as Director of Coaching Education, Howe was responsible for the administration of U.S. Soccer’s Coaching Department, which was established in the early 1970s to oversee the education of coaches through six levels of certification. Earlier this year, he was a candidate for the U.S. women’s national team head coach job, which went to April Heinrichs. “We will miss Bobby’s experienced input within our coaching education programs,” said Bill Sage, U.S. Soccer’s Chief Administrative Officer. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.” Prior to his appointment of Director of Coaching education in 1996, Howe coached the U.S. under-20 men’s national team to an eighth place finish at the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia. The team’s performance in Australia included an opening 6-0 thumping of European champion Turkey, widely considered to be one of the most surprising results in FIFA world championship history. Howe established himself as a professional player in England in the 1960s and 1970s, where he played First Division football for West Ham United, before coming to the United States in 1977 as a coach with the NASL’s Seattle Sounders. He would eventually take the top coaching position with the Washington State Youth Soccer Association, which prepared him for his position with U.S. Soccer. U.S. Soccer’s Coaching Department structure encompass initial instruction courses (D, E, F) conducted in every state, leading up to three levels of certification held at the national level (A, B, C). Thousands of soccer coaches have completed U.S. Soccer Federation coaching schools since the were first developed in 1971, and current membership numbers stand at 65,000 state-level coaches and 13,000 national-level coaches.