John Barata honored as 2022 Youth Coach of the Year by United Soccer Coaches

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – United Soccer Coaches announced its 2022 Member Club/Youth Awards for its Coach of the Year and All-America programs. The awards were selected from online nominations received from members who were a part of the association’s Member Club program in 2022 and/or youth coaches who are individual members of the organization.

The 2022 Youth Coach of the Year is John Barata from the Legacy Soccer Club in Hanson, Mass. Barata is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Coaching of the Legacy Soccer Club in Hanson, Mass., where he coaches both Boys and Girls teams in the U-14, U-15 and U-17 age groups. He also serves as the Head Boys Coach at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Mass.

[Youth All-Americans: Boys | Girls]

A member since 2001, Barata has been coaching for 22 seasons and has earned his United Soccer Coaches Master Coach Diploma and holds a U.S. Soccer A license. He has received the United Soccer Coaches Coach of Significance Award and has numerous local Coach of the Year honors including Massachusetts Competitive Girls Coach of the Year as well as accolades from Eastern Massachusetts Soccer and the Boston Globe. In 2018, New England Soccer Journal listed him among the 50 Most Influential People in Soccer.

Players, their families, fellow coaches and administrators praise his contagious passion for the game and teaching young people the values and lessons that can be learned from the world’s greatest sport. He has had a positive influence on thousands of kids as they transition to young adults, many who have gone on to play for some of the best colleges in the country.