Coach Jim Thames

Coach Jim played soccer as a youth in England where his father was stationed in the military. He continued his college soccer career at the US Air Force Academy where he set records for both single season and all time goals scored which stood for many years and was only broken by a player he coached. Later, Jim returned as an assistant varsity men's soccer coach and was promoted to head coach of the US Air Force Academy men's soccer program.

Today, Coach Jim has over 30 years of soccer coaching experience and has been a USSF "A" licensed coach for the past 10 years (The National USSF "A" license is the highest license awarded by the US Soccer Federation). Jim has extensive success coaching youth soccer having won state championships from the U-11 level and up. Jim's MSC 85 Bayern boys team won state championships at U-16, U-17 and U-19 age groups for MSC United, and finished regionals as a semi-finalist, as both U-17 and U-19. Coach Jim has won national championships with 3v3 teams on 2 different occasions. In 1995, Coach Jim was selected as the Arizona Youth Soccer Association's Boys' Coach of the year. In 2006, Coach Jim was selected as the Valley Youth Soccer League's Boys' Coach of the year. Jim is the current Head Coach for the Red Mountain boys soccer team, coaches a U-12 girls team in the Mesa Soccer Club, and leads the Mesa Soccer Club developmental league, as well as being the U-16 girls coach.

Coach Jim has written a booklet, "Moves for Beating an Opponent" which will be provided to each player selected for our team. This booklet provides a structured format for practicing away from scheduled soccer practices and helps the players develop better ball skills that translate to better players on the field.

Outside of soccer, Jim was a fighter pilot with the US Air Force where he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. After the Air Force, Jim was a 737 Captain flying for America West Airlines until he retired to coach soccer full time. Jim has a degree from the Air Force Academy and a Master's degree in Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado. Next season he will have two sons playing on soccer scholarships in college in Southern California.