The US Soccer Federation has hired away the Premier League's head of performance to oversee player performance throughout the United States national team programs.
James Bunce's hiring as the federation's "high performance director," a newly-created position, was announced on Monday.
"I am honored and humbled to join US Soccer," Bunce said in the statement announcing his hiring. "The federation is an organization that continues to dedicate the right resources to high performance and development growth. I am looking forward to getting started and confident that we will be able to accelerate US Soccer's ability to develop world-class players, coaches and referees."
Bunce, 31, will be charged with overseeing a range of developmental activities including nutrition, conditioning, performance and recovery.
"We are adding a world-class level sports performance expert to our staff," US Soccer Director of Sport Development Ryan Mooney said. "James possesses the right balance of theoretical and practical experience that we are confident will lead to an acceleration across all of our player development initiatives."
The New York Times published a feature story on Bunce's hiring and what it means for the US program; that article contains further details about his background and role.
