Our Mission
FC America is a youth soccer club for young players who aspire to achieve excellence in their game.
Our emphasis is player-centric with development the number one priority. We focus on the technical, tactical, physical and psychological development of players on a pathway towards maximizing their full potential.
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Since our founding in 1991, our guiding principle has always been "from grassroots to college recruits" as we seek to guide players from their first touches of the ball all the way to their college signing day.
our history
In 1991 Rodger Itkor and a group of dedicated soccer parents had a vision of forming an all boys soccer club dedicated to helping soccer players get into college. From that concept FC America was born.
The club started with three teams, Omni, Bremen & Juventus. The Omni team was comprised of the oldest players; it was the U-18 boy’s team. Its team members were the top players in Central Florida and that year, every player went to play in college and received scholarships.
Several of those men went on to become the first FC America alumni to play professionally in the MLS and the US Men’s National Team.
In 1993, Ron Zarbaugh became the 2nd President and decided that we needed a tradition and an identity, so the name Omni was chosen to honor those brave players and their parents who desire to be the best. The Omni name actually means “omnipotent” but came from the first team sponsor: Omni Graphics Inc.
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That same year Ron and George Sasvari created our exclusive program known as “The College Edge”.
In 1997 Roby Stahl, the Director of Coaching, convinced Ron that FC America needed a girls program as well. He understood the need for girls to have the same collegiate guidance. It was then that John Fulgham decided to bring the first girls team to FC America.
The team was also comprised of some of the best players in the state. Following in the footsteps of Omni, they decided the girls team should have a tradition as well and chose Kumba. Kumba is the African Kongo world for “Roar”.
Through the original efforts of Roby and John, FC America’s Kumba program enjoyed a nationally recognized reputation as a premier girls program. That same year our U-17 Omni team coached by Ed Cook and our U-17 Kumba team coached by John Fulgham both won our first two State Championships.
2003 was the club’s next great milestone. Tom Traxler was appointed our first full time Director of Coaching and played a key role in our club’s acceptance into the new Club Directors League. At that time, FC America was the only Central Florida club to be invited to the league.
Keith P. Ryan assumed the President’s position from Ron Zarbaugh, who served ably in that role for ten long years, and made changes to streamline operations and improve efficiency. Scott Bates, our first Vice President, worked painstakingly to secure our new fully lit complex at Trotters Park.
In 2006, Joe Battista became only the Club’s fourth President since inception, and continued the success of his predecessors by solidifying FC America’s reputation as “The” Premier Club in Central Florida.
On the fields, our teams enjoyed unprecedented success, with several of our boys and girls teams becoming forces to be reckoned with, not only at the State level, but Regionally and Nationally as well. In 2013 FC America was the only team in the state of Florida to place 5 teams in the Final Four of State Cup.
We have come a long way since the Club was born in 1991. However, during that time we have never strayed from the vision of our founders, and continue to strive to help young men and women use soccer as a vehicle for securing a higher education.
For information about FC America and its programs, please contact us.