Coach Andrew Wiedabach

Grateful for the coaching education experience with the KNVB in partnership with Premier International Tours!

Sparta Rotterdam v FC Volendam
Classroom sessions with KNVB International Staff
Presentations at AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord Rotterdam
De Klassieker: Feyenoord Rotterdam v AFC Ajax

New ideas, details, and perspectives to bring back but also a strong sense that so much of what we’re building at North Shore United Soccer aligns with some of the best in youth development.

Always learning. Always improving! 💪

Another productive in-house coaching education workshop at North Shore United, led by our Technical Director, Craig Gill. Effective coach communication is vital in guiding and supporting our players. A few areas that stood out to me:

🔌Connection before correction
✏️Adapting to different learning styles
👁️Using non-verbal frameworks like the SOLER model

These workshops truly set our club apart. We invest in developing our coaches the same way we invest in developing our players: with purpose, consistency, and a commitment to doing things the right way!

North Shore United Soccer

This post highlights a reality that’s becoming harder to ignore in our local youth soccer landscape. Parents and players are often left navigating the noise created by environments that normalize the wrong things.

Clubs are presenting poaching as “opportunity,” exploiting different sets of recruiting policies, and influencing families through the loudest cultures rather than the healthiest ones. Too many are being pulled toward environments that sound good on the surface but quietly harm players underneath.

That’s why I’m incredibly grateful to be part of a club that chooses a different path. No club is perfect but at North Shore United we value patience, development, and a genuine care for kids. We prioritize long-term growth over short-term validation. We aim to support parents, not pressure them.

Our players deserve environments built on fairness, belonging, and authentic development. And parents deserve to know the difference. I’m proud to be part of a club that works toward that standard every single day.

Join us at NSU for the Champions Run! It serves as a kickoff event for our fall soccer season but is also open the public!

Mark your calendar to kick off the season with NSU! 💙⚽️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🌮🥤🎸

🗓️ Aug 17

10:30AM Run/Walk followed by Food trucks, drinks and music!

As we enter a new chapter with our U13–U19 Boys Blue teams, we’re excited to announce the NSU Club Premier coaching staff for the 2025-2026 season! 💪💙

Just a kid at the very beginning of my soccer journey. Full of excitement, hope, and a love for the game that would shape my life. He’s why I coach. Why I care. To provide others with the same joy, guidance, and inspiration I was lucky to have. To pass it forward and help the next generation fall in love with the game the way I did.

Our NSU boys program is taking a major step forward! With acceptance as a USYS club member and competition in the Club Premier 2 division beginning next fall, all of our U13-U19 boys blue teams will have access to a competitive, consistent platform that fuels long-term development.

One of the biggest reasons I joined North Shore United was to help elevate the boys program and guide young players—many of whom are on a path similar to my own—toward their full potential. As the U11-U14 Boys Director, I bring my best effort every day with this goal in mind and to create an environment where players can develop, compete, and thrive at every level.

The opportunity to positively impact players, families, our club, and the community is what drives me. Excited for what’s ahead as we keep pushing NSU boys soccer forward!

Coaching is at its best when learning goes both ways. Working with Dylan Connor has been an absolute privilege—not only because of his incredible work ethic, but because of the way he raises the level of everyone around him, myself included. His passion for the game fuels his intrinsic motivation, and his relentless drive and competitiveness push his teammates to be better every day.

Dylan has dedicated countless hours to deliberate practice, honing his craft and setting the standard for what commitment to self-improvement looks like.

It’s no surprise that his efforts have earned him a spot on the 2011 Boys ODP National Team—an incredible accomplishment as the only boys player from Wisconsin to receive this honor. Excited to see where this journey takes you next, D!

North Shore United is proud to share that Dylan Connor (2011 Boys Blue) has been selected for the USYS ODP National Select team! He is the only boy's player from WI (2007-2012) to receive this honor, a testament to his hard work and passion for the game!

Dylan will showcase his talent with the National team at the prestigious Easter International Cup held in Orlando, FL this April. Join us in congratulating him on this well-earned honor! 👏

We don’t know what’s to come for our young athletes.

We don’t know whether their team will win the state championship, or never even make the playoffs.

We don’t know if they’ll have to fight through season-ending injuries, or fight to even make the team.

We don’t know if they’ll see their sports through high school, or choose to walk away.

We don’t know if they’ll become D1 star athletes or the star of their dorm’s intramural flag football team.

We don’t know if they’ll become major league players or be known for their work in the community.

We can’t predict any of it.

But what we DO know is what’s in front of us right now. And RIGHT NOW we have an opportunity to help our kids learn the lessons they’ll carry with them no matter where they go.

And making that game-winning RBI is a chance to teach them about humility.

Learning how to be out on the field with a teammate they don't get along with is a lesson they'll remember when they're disagreeing with someone in a board room.

Making that game-costing mistake is a chance to show them what it means to fail, learn and grow.

Watching an opposing player struggle with a loss as they’re coming through the handshake line is an opportunity for them to understand empathy.

How they handle not making the team is a chance to get them ready for the moments when they don’t land that dream job after they thought they aced the interview.

If we’re just focusing on winning and losing, we’re missing the point.

So let's remember ... as we cheer on our kids as their little siblings are off getting their $1.00 candy bars at the concession stand and we compare team gear on the sidelines and ask each other about our fancy rocking folding chairs…

We don’t know what’s to come for those kids.

But we all have an opportunity to be with them right where they are… and set them up with the lessons they’ll need no matter where they end up.

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