For Immediate Release: February 12, 2016
Primary Contact | Jeremy Schultz, [email protected], 559.320.2543
FRESNO FUEGO FUTBOL CLUB SIGNS BRIAN ZWASCHKA AS ASSOCIATE COACH
Highly Experienced & Successful FSU Women’s Coach Brings Discipline & His Unique Style to Club
FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Fuego F.C. announced today that it had recruited Brian Zwaschka as its First Associate Coach for the club for the 2016 season. Coach Z, as he is known to his players, will work before and during Fuego’s 2016 playing season with recently-appointed, full-time Head Coach Sean Lanigan.
Zwaschka, 44, Head Coach for the Fresno State Women’s Soccer program where he has been since early 2009, where his working motto is, “Quality work. High demands. Forward thinking.” Prior to his FSU posting, Coach Z was an assistant coach at Cal, where he developed a training module, which he recently patented in collaboration with Fresno State, to maximize the full development of players from highly-effective personal training programs to peak fitness and wellness regimens and nutritional guidance. His experience at Cal with player evaluations and recruitment of promising talent will be put to good use as Coach Lanigan has stated he wants to build Fuego’s 2016 team from the ground-up.
Coach Z is a former college All-American at Grand View University, he captained the USL’s Des Moines Menace to two final four appearances, played professionally with USL A-League’s Connecticut Wolves and teams in England, Scotland and two teams in France. He holds multiple domestic and international coaching certifications and licenses from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and the prestigious Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
“We heard from scores of highly-qualified coach candidates from the U.S. and abroad who were interested in joining the Fuego coaching staff for the coming season,” said Fuego Head Coach Sean Lanigan. “But the fit between Brian’s winning experience, proven training techniques and expectations, and mine, was extraordinary and made him the standout from all of the applicants. Our shared, ultimate goal is to field the best-conditioned, most highly trained and motivated players in the Premier Development League this coming season.”
The Fuego held its annual Winter Combine in January to start narrowing down the large field of interested local players, attracting over 60 talented players. Coach Lanigan plans on holding a Combine for local high school players as soon as the High School programs have run their course to start identifying emerging local talent earlier in their playing careers. In addition, Coach Lanigan and General Manager Jeremy Schultz have been reviewing the resumes and highlight reels of dozens of gifted players from all over the world who have reached out to them to join the 2016 Fuego team.
“We’ve had pretty good recruiting years in the past but nothing of the magnitude that we are experiencing this year with top young players from Europe and South America wanting to be a part of the Fuego this coming season,’ said Chris Cummings, Fuego President. “We are very excited at the potential for Fuego success in our 14-game PDL season that starts on Friday, May 6, just a few short months from now. We want Chukchansi Park to become a rocking, winning destination for Fuego fans.”
Fresno Fuego will tune-up for their 2016 regular season start by playing three home friendlies in Chukchansi Park against FC Ararat Yerevan (Thursday, February 18 at 6:30pm), New York Cosmos (Wednesday, February 24 at 6:30pm) and Sacramento Republic FC (Thursday, March 3 at 6:30pm).
ABOUT THE FRESNO FUEGO
The Fresno Fuego are four-time Champions of the Southwest Division in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, the top level of amateur soccer in North America. Founded in 2003, the team competes in the newly-formed Central Pacific Division of the PDL Western Conference. More than 50 Fuego players have moved on to sign professional contracts. The team plays its home games in the heart of Downtown Fresno at Chukchansi Park. Season Tickets, Group and Birthday packages, and fundraising options for the 2016 season are currently available by contacting Jordan Wiebe at [email protected].
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