NCSL hires Ryan Rich as league’s first ever Executive Director

WASHINGTON (Via NCSL) – Ryan Rich, current Technical Director of Alexandria Soccer Association, has been named the first Executive Director in the 38-year history of the National Capital Soccer League. Rich will officially assume his new role on August 1, 2018.

“The Executive Committee of the National Capital Soccer League unanimously selected Ryan Rich to be the first Executive Director in league history,” said Richard Smith, NCSL President. “As the area’s premier promotion-relegation league, serving approximately 30,000 travel soccer players every year representing many of the most successful clubs in the nation, we understand that our members expect the highest level of professionalism from our staff. With Ryan at the helm, we are led by a respected leader in the local soccer community who has recent experience not only on the field as a coach, but also in the clubhouse as a leader of one our top member clubs.”

Rich’s background uniquely positions him to assume the post as the NCSL’s first Executive Director. He joins NCSL with nearly 15 years experience in the DMV youth soccer scene and with the league, most recently as Technical Director and Academy Director with a prominent local club. In that role, he helped turn Alexandria’s travel program into one of the largest in the region while developing a staff of nearly 40 coaches and building the club’s reputation as a leader in curriculum and training methodology development. He holds a United States Soccer Federation “B” Coaching License, a US Youth Soccer National Youth License, and a United Soccer Coaches Association Director of Coaching Diploma. He has previously served as an advisor to the Virginia Youth Soccer Association’s State Cup Committee. And he has most recently served on the Board of Directors of the Club Champions League.

“I am delighted to have this opportunity to work with NCSL as its first Executive Director,” Rich said. “I am a firm believer in NCSL and its promotion-relegation system at the youth level, and I look forward to working with our member clubs to further professionalize the league. NCSL has been one of the premier leagues in the country over the past 38 years, and it offers an ideal platform for players of all levels to develop, have fun, and succeed.”

Rich played his youth soccer at Beach FC in Virginia Beach. He was a stalwart member of Virginia’s and Region I’s Olympic Development Program teams and was offered a professional soccer contract with Fulham FC when he was 15 years old. Rich attended Princeton, where he was a member of the All-Ivy Team.

The National Capital Soccer League is a travel soccer league offering appropriate competition for boys and girls teams aged 7 through 19. With approximately 1,100 teams competing in eleven age groups, NCSL is one of the oldest and largest most well-known travel soccer leagues in the country. It currently features 72 member clubs centered in Maryland, DC, Virginia, and West Virginia.