Just eight years after its founding, FC Greater Boston Bolts rose to a position of national prominence in girls’ youth soccer after capturing the U19 club National Championship in 1994. As a member of the first Massachusetts team to win a national title, the Bolts’ Sarah Dacey was lauded as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Now, sixteen years later, Dacey will team up with Jessica Pfeifer to restore the girls’ side of the Bolts program to prominence on a national stage.

Prior to the appointment of Dacey, Tony Mohammed served as the Bolts’ Girls Director. Elliott Pratt, President of the FC Greater Boston, said of Mohammed: “We would like to thank Tony for his hard work and dedication as our Girls Director over the last two years. His professionalism and intelligence have helped us grow. We wish him the very best.”

The Bolts selected Sarah Dacey and Jessica Pfeifer (Director of the Girls Intiative) in May, 2010 to raise the bar on the girls side to match the high level of achievement currently enjoyed by the Bolts boys. In speaking about her new role, Dacey remarked, “I was extremely excited when this opportunity presented itself. I am eager to bring the girls back to prominence by working with Jess to promote our new strategic initiative. This will distinguish us from all other clubs in the country. I also look forward to being heavily involved with the players and parents on a day to day basis, and providing the best possible experience for our players.”

Dacey and Pfeifer will work in tandem. Dacey, who boasts extensive coaching experience at the both the youth and collegiate level has officially been named the Bolts’ Girls Director. Pfeifer, who will work in tandem with Dacey as Director of the Girls’ Initiative, possesses academic and professional experience relating to team and performance psychology amongst girls and women. In addition to their strong playing backgrounds that saw Dacey and Pfeifer star for the Bolts in the club’s heyday, their complimentary skills and perspectives are ideal for the new initiative. Collectively, the alumnae pledged, “we share a commitment and inner fire to bring the club back to the
level it was when we played in the 1990s.”

The Girls Initiative will be implemented with all FC Greater Boston Girls’ teams and is designed to empower girls as females, athletes, and active members of the soccer community and community-at-large. A revolutionary approach to girls’ club soccer, these goals will be advanced through the balanced integration of both athletic and personal commitment and achievement. The program will emphasize three major areas of personal development:

1) Engagement and Relatedness through a focus on team building and intra-club mentoring
2) Identity as Female Athletes through wellness programs, such as nutrition awareness and female focused strength training aimed at injury prevention
3) Empowerment of Girls as Leaders through community outreach opportunities as well as the allocation of qualified female coaches in every age group.

Sarah and Jessica co-coached the GU14 and U17 teams this past year. While working collaboratively with these teams, they recognized the ways in which the combination of their respective coaching philosophies blended to create an enriching and positive environment for the girls. In two seasons, the U14 girls went from placing 5th in Maple 2 to 3rd in Maple 1, while winning a nationally recognized tournament in the process. The U17 team, which suffered a winless record in the spring of 2009, rebounded to enjoy an undefeated season in Maple 2 the following year; the U17s are currently awaiting a promotion game to earn a place in Maple 1 for the 2011 season.

Pfeifer explains, “There are countless schools of thought regarding athletic development and performance excellence. The Girls Initiative curriculum was developed as a means through which to achieve athletic excellence and elite performance in conjunction with the promotion of healthy growth as girls and adolescents in today’s culture. It is my hope that this initiative will facilitate a kind of learning that will allow our players to excel at the highest and most competitive level of youth soccer. Still, more importantly, we aim to develop the skills that they will need to be confident, empowered females in the collegiate athletic arena, the classroom, the workforce, and their personal lives as young women.”

Brian Ainscough, Bolts’ Coaching Director, comments on Dacey and Pfeifer’s complementary skills: “In today’s era, youth sports and personal development can’t be separated, just as winning can’t be separated from character. Coaching today is more than just understanding the game of soccer. It is about developing the player as a person, making her or him more resilient. In turn, this builds strong teams with winning character. We know Sarah and Jessica will bring prominence back to our Girls side.”

Sarah started playing for the Bolts when she was 13, winning the national championship in 1994 at the age of 18. She was the MVP of the tournament. She was just coming off of her freshman year at the University of North Carolina where she started and won the NCAA national championship. She won the championship two more times in her illustrious career at UNC, once in 1994, and once in 1996. She was an offensive-minded player, playing for legendary coach Anson Dorrance. Before being recruited to UNC she played for Framingham High where she was a Parade NSCAA All American. She was also on the youth national team from 1991-1993. In addition to her storied soccer career, she played lacrosse at UNC where she led the team to two NCAA final fours. Upon graduation Sarah became an assistant at Boston College for both soccer and lacrosse.

She moved on to Providence in 1999 to be an assistant before coaching at University of Tennessee in 2000. Sarah commented on her travels, “coaching at three difference schools in three years was terrific as it exposed me to three different coaching styles, all successful. I was able to take the best from each program and build my own style.” After a brief coaching stint, the Women’s Professional League (WUSA) formed. She played for the Carolina Courage in 2001, and then the Boston Breakers in 2002 where she was a starter. In 2003 and 2004 she was the associate AD at the Faye School, and was also the soccer and lacrosse coach. In 2005 she became the head soccer and lacrosse coach at Babson College. She has coached for the New England Eagles, the Boston Blast, and has most recently been a coach over the last year for the Bolts. Sarah will also be an assistant at Boston College, where she will bring connections to current BC players and coaches to the Bolts coaching repertoire.

Pfeifer played for the Bolts from U10-U18 during which time the team won an impressive six state cups and gained recognition as one of the top 5 teams in the country. She also played for Newton North High School, winning the State Cup her sophomore year. Through her experience with the Bolts, she was recruited to Northeastern University in 2002. At Northeastern, she was a four year starter in the midfield, an All- Conference and All-New England selection. She was Captain her senior year and finished her collegiate career ranked third in points all time. From there, Pfeifer went on to obtain a Masters Degree in Sport Psychology from Boston University. She has been a member of the Applied Sports Psychology Association since 2008. Continuing her investment in and passion for soccer, Pfeifer was the assistant coach at Wellesley College in 2008 and coached for the New England Eagles for two years before returning to FCGB in 2008 where she has coached since.

She is currently a second year Doctoral Student studying Clinical Psychology and plans to focus her doctoral research on female development within athletic teams. To this end, she has worked as a Sport Psychology Consultant for several collegiate and youth athletic programs including her most recent work with Harvard University Women's Basketball, Hockey, and Crew teams during the 2009-10 athletic seasons.