Program Director

Eddie Santos

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2005 Boys Elite

2003 Boys Elite

1999 Boys Elite

Eddie Santos has over 20 years of soccer experience which he acquired having played and coached at various levels. Growing up in South Florida, he played Varsity, Club and Semi-Pro Soccer. Bringing his extensive experience to Central Florida, he has successfully run and operated Futbol Club Elite (formerly Empire Soccer Academy) for almost 10 years.

Eddie's vision for Spirit United is not only to teach the players the fundamentals along with advanced technical and tactical soccer skills but also to help them grow as individuals. His focus is on helping the players understand the game of soccer while inspiring and supporting their own individual growth and development of character and faith. His goal is to instill these core values so they may grow as individuals with deep respect for family, friends, teammates, as well as, fellow competitors. 

Certification(s):

Director of Coaching

Claude Davis was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica.  He fell in love with the game at the age of 8. Coming up through the ranks playing in high school soccer leagues he was selected for the Jamaican National program and was a key figure for the under 20’s and under 23’s.  As a result of hard work, he was drafted to play on the senior national team at the age of 22 while serving as captain for his club team Portmore United. Davis has made 68 international appearances for Jamaica, scoring goals and captained the team on several occasions.  At the age of 24, he signed a professional contract to play in England and over the course of 13 years he had the opportunity to play for various clubs in the English Premier League as well as Championship and League 1.  Over the course of his career he was blessed to have played against and alongside some of the best players in the world to have ever played the game including Ronaldo and Ronaldinho (Brazil), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Thierry Henry (France), David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rooney (England), Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan (USA) just to name a few. 

One of his most memorable history making moments was beating Arsenal United while playing for Sheffield United.  It was SUFC's first time in history beating Arsenal in a Premier League match.

• Some of his accolades include:
• Player and Fan player of the season (MVP) while at Preston North End
• Club record signing for Premiership side Sheffield United 
• Automatic Promotion with Crawley Town FC and Rotherham United, from league 2 to league 1 to the Championship respectively.

During, the summers he would return home to Jamaica and assist in coaching his former club, but it was while at Crawley Town FC that he had the chance to be an ambassador for the Junior Reds Program and work with children.  Along with playing and coaching, Claude has served as an analyst for Jamaican station CVM during the World Cup 2010 as well as World Cup 2014.

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'B' Coaching License

Technical Director

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2003 Boys Elite

1999 Boys Elite

Gustavo Caraballo was born in Caracas, Venezuela on June 21, 1972, Gustavo has a long and very accomplished resume that began in 1989 where he debuted as a Professional Player in Caracas for Club Sport Maritimo. During his time there, he played at a number of Elite Clubs and was instrumental in securing a National Championship Title for his team in 1990, 1992 and 1994 with Club Sport Maritimo, and in 1999 with team Deportivo Itaichacao in Caracas. His Venezuelan National career participation began as a U20 player in 1990 playing in the South American Youth Tournament, 1990 at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mexico with the U23s, and in 1994 at America's Cup in Colombia against National Groups from Uruguay, Argentina, and Costa Rica. Internationally, his player resume includes having participated in the Toyota Libertadores Cup for Sport Maritimo in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1995, in the Commebol Cup in 1993 with Club Maritimo, 1997 with Estudiantes of Merida, 1999 with Deportivo Itaichacao and 2001 with Trujillanos Futbol Club from Caracas. His final International appearance as a player was in 2003 at the Nissan South American Cup with Deportivo Italchacao.

Gustavo has worked closely with esteemed Technical Coaches Raul Cavalieri and Carlos Maldonado. His impressive coaching experience includes positions as the Assistant Technical Coach for a number of elite teams in South America some of which ended their seasons with National Championships. These positions were held at the following Clubs: 2004 Deportivo Italchacao; 2004-2006 Union Athletico Maracaibo achieving the Championship of the opening and closing Tournaments, National Champions 2004-2005 and opening Tournament Champions 2006; 2007-2010 with Athletico Maracaibo achieving the Championship of the opening and closing Tournaments, National Champions 2004-2005 and opening Tournament Champions 2006; 2007-2010 with Deportivo Tachira winning the closing tournament and National Championship in 2007-2008 and the opening Tournament Championship 2009-2010; 2010-2012 with ACC Mineros of Guayana winning the 2011 Venezuelan Cup and participation in the South American Cup against Columbia and Paraguay. His most recent position in 2013 was as Assistant Technical Coach with Aragua F.C.

Gustavo currently holds a Pro A License and a Venezuelan National License. His coaching education includes an internship in San Lorenzo of Almagro in Argentina with Technical Coach Ramon Diaz. In June of 2007, he was given the distinct honor of being credited as a Technical Director of Professional Soccer in the X111 National Coaching Course category dictated by the Venezuelan Soccer Federation and the National Association of Coaches.  

ACYS Spirit United is honored and very excited to welcome Gustavo to our Club. Gustavo has the background and knowledge to help drive the Spirit United Program further along its path of achieving its goal of being able to offer the best development option for Youth Soccer Players in Central Florida. In his role as Technical Director, he will be instrumental in developing a program of consistent and result driven technical and tactical training, strength training, and speed and agility training across all ages and genders within the Spirit United Program. He aims to develop long-term plans to help create pathways for both the Players who are striving to play at the highest levels and the Spirit United Coaches willing to learn his methods. In his short time with the club, he has already been able to scout and place a very talented Central Florida U15 player Luis Mora in the U15 player pool for the Venezuelan National Team. 

Certification(s):

Goalkeeping Director

Cesar Baena

Venezuelan-born, Cesar Baena joins our competitive staff working and training the Spirit United Goalkeepers. In Cesar, the youth keepers of ACYS Spirit United are provided an opportunity to work and learn from someone of the highest caliber goalkeeping and goalkeeper coaching. This level of goalkeeping instruction and expertise is a very rare offering from a Central Florida Youth Club. 

As a player, Cesar has had an expansive 20-year career playing professionally at the highest levels starting in 1981. This player experience includes playing for a number of teams in Venezuela and Bolivia such as Caracas FC, Estudiantes de Merida FC, Merida FC and Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero. His experience also includes a number of years playing for the Venezuelan National Team from 1981-1997. 

His days as a professional player have been followed by an impressive coaching resume in Venezuela and Mexico from 2008 to 2016. Coach Cesar Baena was on staff and trained keepers at the following Clubs:

• Caracas FC
• Carabobo FC
• Mineros De Guayana
• Deportivo Lara
• Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles De Caliente (Xolos from Mexico)
• Venezuelan National First Team from 2008-2013 as well as the U17's to U20's from 2008-2013

Girls Technical Director

Kim Reynolds

Kim Reynolds is currently a member of the Orlando Pride Women's Pro team, comes to the Spirit United Program with a wealth of player experience which includes 10 years playing in the WSPL. In addition, Kim distinguished herself as a UCF standout and two-time college All-American. She also attended the U23 USA National Team Camp and was named Captain of the ODP State and Region teams in 1999-2005. Kim has coached locally both at the developmental and varsity level for a number of years and is currently working on her USSF D license. 

ACYS Spirit United is committed to improving all aspects of our competitive and developmental programs and has tasked Kim with having direct and consistent contact with all coaches and players in the Spirit United girls program by providing game day analysis feedback, coaching development instruction and tools and training programs designed to better improve player development. Kim will also be instrumental in working closely with other Spirit United Directors to help identify top players for ODP and ID2 programs as well as aid in the creation and implementation of college recruitment programs for our female competitive soccer players. 

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'D' Coaching License

Coaching Staff (alphabetical order)

Howard Adlam has coached soccer in the United States for over 10 years and has coached both boys and girls programs throughout his coaching career.   Coach Howard has been coaching in the Central Florida area since 2012 and has established himself as professional and results driven. He would describe his main objective as being able to provide professional quality mentorship and training with the objective of producing skillful confident soccer players through the use of soccer tips, drills, exercises, and games. All this is done with the objective of facilitating the growth of youth soccer players by developing superb physical, psychological, technical and tactical players. 

Coach Howard has been a Competitive Head Coach at South Orlando Soccer Club for the U9, U14 and U16 age groups from 2012 to 2017. He has many accomplishments during his time at SOS including numerous first and second place finishes with a number of teams at various Orlando City, Rush, IMG and Disney Tournaments. He also is Head Soccer Coach at Boone High School Girls Junior Varsity since 2014 where he has proven himself with a 3-year record of 41-9-2. 

Howard was born in Kingston, Jamaica and played competitive soccer for approximately 8 years before immigrating to Illinois, where he became an All-Conference high school player and starter at Northern Illinois University.

Howard and wife Lea are proud parents of 3 outstanding youth players and are excited to support the development of youth soccer at ACYS Spirit United.

Certification(s):

Kieron Bernard

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2009 Boys Elite

2006 Girls Premier

2004 Girls Elite 

Kieron Bernard started playing soccer at the age of 10. He has played at all levels of soccer and has helped to lead his teams to multiple championships throughout his career. His player experience includes playing for the Jamaican National Team U17 and U20 as Captain and with the U23 Jamaican National Senior Team in a number of World Cup qualifying tournaments. Kieron received a full scholarship to play soccer at San Jacinto College and in 2008 was named MVP Defender.  In addition, he was part of the NJCAA and NSCAA All Regions First Teams and the All-American First Team. In 2009, he was invited to play professionally with the Austin Aztecs and in 2011 he played for Orlando City Soccer Club winning the 2011 and 2012 USL Pro Championships.

In his years as a professional player, Kieron has participated in numerous soccer camps and personal training with kids. His passion today is having the ability to share his professional experience and training with kids at a level where they can understand and execute the fundamentals that will help get them to the next level.

Certification(s):

Kenny Coutain

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2004 Boys Premier

2001 Boys Premier

Kenny Coutain was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica and began playing soccer at the age of 5. Kenny has a BA in Education and is currently working on a Masters of Arts in Sports and Fitness. His coaching experience began in 2008 as the head boys' soccer coach at Oakridge High School where he restarted a boys program that was unable to finish a complete season two years in a row. In his first year as a Coach, he started the season 0-6 and would go on to eventually win 7 games in a row to finish the season 7-7-1 and 3rd in the District Semi-Finals. In his second season as Head Coach, he finished 14-6-2 playing for the District Championship and made it to the Regional semifinals. By 2015-16, Coach Coutain finished his regular season undefeated 18-0-2 before losing the only game of the season in the District Semi-Finals. Since being given the task of managing both the girls and the boys programs at Oak Ridge High School, the programs have experienced great success and improvement.

As a multi-sport Athlete in high school, Coach Kenny was involved with basketball, football, track and field and soccer. He was a member of the All-State track team for the 110-Meter Hurdles and 100-Meter Dash and was All-County in football and soccer. He earned a scholarship for football at the University of Memphis and was signed as a professional football player for the Green Bay Packers. While playing professional football, he continued to participate in clubs and indoor soccer as a player and a youth coach. Soccer has always been his focus and passion. Through his guidance and coaching, Kenny has placed several athletes in college including two former players that went on to play for their National Team in Haiti.

Certification(s):

Barry Hyde

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2007 Boys Elite

1999 Boys Elite

Barry Hyde brings 40 years of playing experience to ACYS Sprit United. He still actively plays in the Central Florida Soccer League. His youth playing experience started in the Washington DC Beltway league in 1974. He played on U13-U17 competitive teams at Annandale and Alexandria Soccer Clubs in 1977-1981 and was a member of the U16 Virginia State Championship team in 1980. He also played in the U16 and U17 Eastern Regional Tournament in 1980 and 1981. In college, Barry was a team member for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Soccer Team 1983-1988. He was the RPI Varsity Captain in 1987 when they achieved NCAA Division III Top 20 status. Barry's coaching experience began when he was named the RPI JV Coach in the fall of 1988. He has 8 years youth coaching experience U5–U16 with recreational, competitive and premier soccer teams in the Central Florida area.  These clubs included Seminole Youth Soccer and Maitland Soccer Clubs. 

Certification(s):

Leo Jimenez

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2002 Boys Premier

2000 Boys Premier

Leo Jimenez is a former professional player with an extensive career spanning a number of countries including Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, and Cyprus. Venezuelan-born, Leo made 75 international appearances with the Venezuelan National Team that included FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Japan/Korea 2002 and in Germany 2008, and Venezuelan National Team playing in the American Cup in Paraguay 1998, Columbia 2001 and Peru in 2004. He was also part of the squad that won the gold medal in the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1998. His professional player experience includes having played in a number of International Cups including the South American Cup in 2003 and 2015, the Copa Libertadores in 2004 and the Toyota Intercontinental Cup in 2004 to name a few. In addition to his playing career, he has been a guest commentator on a number of International radio programs where he was asked to analyze and discuss Venezuelan soccer appearances. Coach Jimenez currently holds a "C" US Soccer coaching license and will be working with the 2004 Boys Elite Program and the 2002 Boys Elite Program.

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'C' Coaching License

Amanda Malkin

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2005 Girls Elite

Amanda Malkin has joined the Spirit United Coaching Staff as the 2005 girls coach for the 2017 Spring season. She has been playing soccer since the age of 5 years old. While putting in her time as a competitive soccer player in her earlier years, Amanda starting coaching in the youth leagues at the age of 14. For college, she was able to secure a collegiate position at Green Mountain College in Vermont where she played until she graduated in 2011. Following graduation, she continued to stay active in youth soccer development by providing private sessions to motivated players looking to improve their soccer capabilities as well as assisting in coaching at a Varsity level at Daniel Hand High School in Connecticut. Coach Malkin holds both a National E and F license and is motivated to continue to improve her knowledge and education of the game. Welcome to the Team Amanda!

Certification(s):

William (Billy) Mathews

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2007  Boys Elite

2000/1999 Girls Elite

William (Bill) Mathews is no stranger to the local Florida soccer scene.  Having played for Downtown Orlando Soccer Club in his youth, from 1981-1988 he was an ODP 1st round player from 1985-1988 and won an AAU National Championship in 1986.  Bill was a 3-year Varsity starter at Edgewater High School from 1985-1987.  He made the All-Conference 1st team from 1986 and 1987 and the All-Conference 1st team and district 1st team in 1987.  His collegiate soccer experience consists of being a 2-year starter at Anderson College Juco where he was an All-Conference player from 1987-1988.  His coaching career started at ACYS in the in-house program and he began coaching for Spirit United in 2009.  He currently is the Head Coach of the U15 Spirit United Girls and is the Assistant Coach of the Varsity girls at Edgewater High School.

Certification(s):

Another local Coach with a proven record joins the Spirit United Coaching Staff. Coach John Morand grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and played club soccer through high school and well into his adult years. His local coaching career started at the Maitland Soccer Club where he coached from 2005 to 2013. He has years of experience coaching both girls and boys ages U5 to U18. In addition to his years at Maitland, Coach Morand has coached four years at Lake Brantley High School with their girls soccer program. Coach Morand states that "My passion for soccer actually began while I was coaching, I have always had the drive to continually learn new techniques, tactics, and facets of the game so that I can foster growth in the sport and love of the game for my players."

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'F' Coaching License

Jai Nascimento

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2008 Boys Elite

2004 Boys Elite

In the spirit of ACYS's continued commitment to the development of all players and staff, the Spirit United Program is excited to have Jai Nascimento as part of our growing team.

Playing since the age of 4, Jai moved to Orlando from Rhode Island at 14. His outstanding abilities on the pitch were put on display during his time at Edgewater High School where he was crowned as the leading scorer from his sophomore year until his graduation. Also, during this time, he made the 94 ODP Regional team and was given the opportunity to travel and play against a number of professional teams in Mexico. His college career includes 3 years at Division 1 Coastal Carolina University.

Jai is currently working towards getting his coaching licenses and under the direction of Eddie Santos and Gustavo Caraballo will be focusing on the development of some of the future young soccer stars within the Spirit United Program.

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'F' Coaching License

Peres Nascimento

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2006 Boys Elite

2004 Boys Elite II

1999 Boys Elite II

Peres Nascimento is a native of the Cape Verde Island. He has over 35 years of playing experience. Peres started playing the game of soccer at the age of 5 and quickly developed a passion for the game. He played 4 years in high school and also for many organized clubs in Rhode Island. During his senior year in High School, he was awarded Student Athlete of the Year, MVP for the State All-Star Game and First Team All-State. Peres developed himself to play at a semi-pro level in Rhode Island. He still enjoys playing the game and is currently playing for the Central Florida Men’s league.

Certification(s):

Njegomir (NJ) Parlovic

ACYS Spirit United is happy to have Yugoslavian-born Coach Njegomir Parlovic (NJ) training in the competitive program at ACYS. Playing soccer since the age of 5 in Europe, NJ moved to the USA at the age of 12 and continued to play soccer at high school, club and eventually college ball at Rollins before being sidelined by an unfortunate knee injury. Currently assigned with the important developmental task of Coaching the young 2008/2007 Elite SU boys,  Coach NJ  claims to "have great passion and love for this sport especially for a simple one-two passing game and hard work which I would love to develop in kids. The earlier they know it the more success they will have".  

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'F' Coaching License

Carlos Pedraza

Carlos Pedraza began his youth soccer development at Deportivo Galicia in Caracas from 1986-1999. This was followed by time spent at Futbol de Salon Hermandad Gallega from 1999-2001 where his primary focus was on Futsal. During this time, he was also rostered on the U20 team for Deportivi Galicia in Venezuela which was followed by a 5-year college soccer experience on scholarship at the Universidad Santa Maria.

His professional Futsal experience includes leagues such as FVF Venezolana de Futbol Sala from 2005-2010 and includes a South American Club Futsal Championship with the Universidad Central de Venezuela FS in 2007.

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'F' Coaching License

Carlos Perez

Carlos Perez was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela where he played on the U20 National team and as a Professional Player for Caracas FC. In addition, while in Venezuela, he was an integral part of leading his teams to a District Capital National Youth Games gold medal in 1989 and a University National Games gold medal in 1994. His experience as a youth trainer began in 1992 at the Colegio La Salle and the Colegio Tirso de Molina. He currently Coaches at Greater Osceola United. ACYS Soccer welcomes Coach Perez and is happy to have him lend his youth soccer development expertise to the competitive youth players at Spirit United.

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'E' Coaching License

Daniel Perez comes to the ACYS organization with 15 years of coaching experience, including 12 years of Pop Warner coaching experience. He made the transition to Soccer in 2014 and has been studying and coaching the game since.

Coach Daniel is also a Certified Conditioning Coach and is very well known in the community for conducting various free boot camps in the Central Florida area.

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'F' Coaching License

Collin Smith Jr. (CJ)

2017 – 2018 Team(s):

2005 Boys Elite II

2003 Boys Elite II

2000 Boys Elite

Collin Smith Jr., or CJ for short, played at the semi-pro level in Bermuda and has extensive youth coaching experience at the Bermuda Athletic Association (BAA) in Hamilton, Bermuda. Currently holding a UEFA C license and having been trained extensively by staff from Barcelona Soccer Academy in Spain, CJ's experience has been working mainly with assisting elite youth players in their development for progression into overseas academies or alternate elite clubs using the Barcelona Methodology technique. 

Certification(s):

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National 'C' Coaching License