WESTMINSTER, Colo. — The Westminster Soccer Club is the most efficient place where local parents can encourage their children to be actively involved in soccer. Specifically designed for youth, this club provides a soccer experience that is challenging, professional and fun to build the child’s confidence, create lasting memories and build strong friendships.

Established in 2003, Westminster AFC Soccer has become one of the biggest competitive clubs in the entire north metropolitan area. It achieved this feat by focusing on teaching players aged 3-20 the physical, tactical, psychological and technical aspects of the game. This has helped develop participants athletically as well as personally so that parents will be proud of having children who are well-balanced and successful in playing soccer and other life endeavors.

From the coaching to the facilities provided for indoor and outdoor activities, the Westminster Soccer Club is not kidding about its commitment to developing recreational and competitive soccer in the Westminster community.

The club not only provides safe and quality programs for the children and youth in Westminster, but also opens its arms to people staying around the community. No gender, race, skill level, background or physical abilities are exempt from joining the club as long as players remain honest, responsible and show good moral character.

The fast-growing soccer club moved to a new home in August 2021 after about a year of dealing with issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the smaller office they were working from before, the new space is bigger and better.

“We are moving to a bigger and better workspace!” Greg Borchers announced on the club’s website. “This bigger space will enable us to get back to hosting all player, parent and coach meetings in-house.”

Borchers is the recreational and academy director of the Westminster Soccer Club. He first joined Westminster Soccer in 2009 as an intern but started working with them fully in 2014. With eight years of coaching experience at different levels, Borchers now lives in Westminster, playing on several soccer leagues as well as hockey.

As part of his working experience, Borchers was an area scout at the University of Minnesota Morris and an assistant coach for the Peak to Peak girls team. He was also the Bootleggers Soccer Club head coach from 2012-13 and still contributes his expertise at Rocky Mountain Soccer Camps.

Indoor leagues are available for recreational and competitive club members at the club. Active club teams include the U11-U14 girls and boys, U6-U10 girls and boys and the U9-U10 academy.

Players in the club over 12 years old now have a chance to get trained to become soccer referees through the Referee Mentor Program. Through this professional mentoring program, participants will be trained and evaluated whether they are beginners or are already certified. The program has already trained many of the club’s youth to become soccer referees. This has helped them have more confidence, better ability to make decisions, increased level of responsibility and get a steady source of income.

Many parents are encouraged to allow their children to become members of the club after seeing seniors who got collegiate soccer placement. Examples of players from the Class of 2019 who got such placement include Kelsey Clements (Presentation College), Peyton Westphal (Hastings College) and Elyse Hatch-Rivera (Macalester College).

Formerly known as Westminster Association Football Club, Westminster Soccer relies on volunteer parent coaches to provide the training and support needed to create the best positive experience. However, volunteer coaches must be professionally licensed experts and pass a state-approved background check. Jeff Donnici, Nick Nguyen, Kevin Tennal, Nick Tallman and Akram Hassan are some coaches working with the girls teams. Some of the coaches for the boys teams include Dan Gardner, Dennis Sanger, Bradley Goldsberry, Stephan Tallman and Travis Nicholson.

In November 2021, some of the club teams went to New Mexico for the Gaylord Shepperd Tournament and returned with four champions, a runner-up and one third place.

Westminster Soccer Club is setting an elite standard for other organizations in the community to follow by making soccer as attractive and ambitious as possible for youth to join.

“Westminster Soccer continues to support many local clubs in an effort to prepare for the upcoming season,” Borchers concluded.

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