Minnesota United FC have hired an academy director, with the St. Paul Pioneer Press reporting on Thursday that the club have named longtime American soccer coaching veteran Tim Carter to the position.
Carter comes to United from the Shattuck-St. Mary’s School, a boarding school based in Fairbault, Minn. that fields a soccer team in US Soccer’s Development Academy. New England Revolution attacker and Minnesota native Teal Bunbury was a part of Carter’s inaugural recruiting class at the school in 2005.
The Pioneer Press reported that Minnesota United will eventually field U-14, U-16 and U-18 teams, and could one day include girls’ teams. Club sporting director Manny Lagos told the newspaper that the club will be diligent in establishing their academy and that they’ve yet to determine its start date and other key details.
“We have to make sure that we get it right with the community,” Lagos said. “It’s the only way we can be competitive…. This isn’t a market like New York or LA, where [the academy] may be a secondary initiative. It’s going to have to be a big initiative for us to be successful.”
The director of youth development for the Chicago Fire in 2001, Carter has over 30 years of experience working in American soccer. In addition to his time at Shattuck and in Chicago, Carter also served as a national staff coach and director of youth development for the US Soccer Federation.
