Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Shafer
Hi Joe, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The Corinthians FC of San Antonio started in 2009 as a solitary local Men’s semi professional team, making its
National Premier Soccer League debut in 2014. Fast forward to today, the club now provides programming for youth players all the way to Men’s & Women’s open ages.
It was in 2019 when I came on board & entered into this Project with club President Arturo Ferrer, both in agreement that we wanted to build a program that would essentially change lives & give opportunities to talented young Athletes. Development would be the foundation of everything! First is our players values, then their habits & finally the model of play. With this recipe we feel we are different or unique. Its more about the people at the club rather than what league we compete in.
Our Jr. Academy focuses on development at an early age. Making sure students, ages 6 – 12 ( boys & girls ), find a sense of enjoyment for the game along with teaching quality habits & principles of our Corinthians DNA.
Our Academy program is the next step in our club programing, providing our young athletes ( boys & girls 14 – 18yrs ) with a more competitive environment to develop. Our players are exposed to methodologies from top youth academies from professional clubs, Our biggest influence being C.F. Pachuca from Liga MX. The idea is to develop our academy players for careers at the college level & the potential to play professionally.
Our Semi professional programming has grown immensely since our men’s debut in 2014. We now foster
2 semi professional men’s teams & 2 women’s semi professional teams.
Our men’s first team remains San Antonio’s only club competing in the National Premier Soccer League, which is the oldest & highest level amateur soccer league in the country. Every summer the nations top collegiate players are on showcase.
Our U23 men’s program also competes at the semi professional level in the United Premier Soccer League. For our club this would be the filter into playing for our first team. This is where our academy products are prepared & developed to compete at the highest armature levels possible.
Our women’s semi professional program follows suite with our men’s program. Our women’s first team competes in the Women’s Premier Soccer League which is the equivalent to the men’s NPSL in terms of competition. The top Female collegiate soccer players are on showcase during the summer months.
Our Women’s U21 program, like our u23s, is where our top female academy products earn their way onto the women’s first team. Mainly composed of our U19 academy products, this group also competes in the WPSL in the U21 division & plays against some of the top clubs in the region.
Now that we have 6 years under our belt with our project, it is amazing to look back and see what has been accomplished. With the help of great parents, coaches & players we have been able to do some really big things here at the club.
-In House Development league ( 30+ teams )
-Top Leagues & National tournaments for our most competitive youth players
– Access to some of the top professional youth academies worldwide
– 6 International Friendlies vs professional teams ( i.e Pumas, Tigres, Rayados, Puebla, Santos, Pachuca )
– 20+ Collegiate Signings
– 5 players signed professionally, 10+ players invited for professional trials
– 3 Women’s semiprofessional conference titles ( back to back to back )
– 2 Men’s Semiprofessional conference titles.
I am proud to be a Corinthian!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think our biggest challenge would have had to bee when COVID hit. Soccer is a team sport & at that time we were all isolated. No training or games were possible. Our future was in jeopardy & no one really knew when we would return to normal.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am currently the Director of Operations for the Corinthians FC of San Antonio.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Action & persistence.
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
—Conrad Hilton
Contact Info:
- Website: https://corinthiansfcsa.sportngin.com/
- Instagram: sacorinthiansfc
- Facebook: SA Corinthians FC
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SACorinthians
