Blackbear United Coaching Staff
Blackbear United Football Club provides the most experienced and diversified staff in Eastern Maine. Our staff includes some of the most well known and prominent figures in Collegiate, High School and Youth Soccer. Members originate from the United States, Canada and Chile and are licensed by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
Brad Ala
Felipe Arias
Coach Arias brings years of extensive playing and coaching experience to the Blackbear United staff. At the age of 16, Arias was selected by a professional club in Chile, but declined the offer to continue his education. A few years later, he accepted an offer to study in the US at Bryan College in Tennessee on a soccer scholarship. In his four years at Bryan, Arias earned two All-American awards and was named the Most Valuable Player. He graduated with a degree in Psychology and earned a Masters in Mental Health Counseling. He has coached the girl’s varsity soccer team at Maine Central Institute for the past seven seasons.
Coach Arias hails from Concepcion, Chile and resides in Pittsfield, Maine with his wife and four children.
MJ Ball
Coach Ball co-founded the club in 2001, serves as the Executive Director, the Youth Academy Director, and coaches multiple teams. Coach Ball .
Prior to becoming full-time Director of Operations with Blackbear United, he was the assistant men's soccer coach for two years at University of Maine, was a Head Coach in the Girls ODP program for SoccerMaine for four years, and coached the men's and women's soccer teams at the University of Maine at Machias for four years (2000 - 2004) where he was named 2003 NAIA Region X Women's Coach of the Year, and 2002 Sunrise Conference Men's Coach of the Year. Coach Ball draws upon his extensive experience as a player at collegiate level (Westminster College, PA), and as a coach. He current holds a USSF National 'A' license.
Coach Ball lives in Hampden with his wife Heather and son Aidyn James.
Erin Caprara
Erin Caprara joins the Blackbear United staff this season. Caprara enters her first season as the Assistant Men's/Women's soccer coach at Maine Maritime. Caprara joins the Mariner soccer staff after a four year stint as the Head Girls Soccer Coach at Longmeadow High School in Longmeadow Massachusetts.
Before her arrival to MMA, Coach Caprara previously taught elementary physical education and coached high school soccer and lacrosse in western Massachusetts. In Erin's four years as the head varsity soccer coach at Longmeadow High School, she led her team to two Division 1 Western Mass Final appearances, winning the first Western Mass Girls Soccer Championship, and first league championship in school history. She was the recipient of the 2004 Pioneer Valley Soccer Officials Association Division 1 Coach Sportsmanship Award. Erin was also a member of the Soccer City Training Center Coaching Staff in Wilbraham Massachusetts.
Erin's coaching experience also included two years as an assistant coach with the Longmeadow Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team which won two Western Mass Championships and and were Massachusetts state finalists both years. Erin was also employed for two years with the All-American Speed Camp as a speed and agility instructor. Prior to the beginning of her coaching career Caprara played collegiately at Springfield College where she also graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education. She received her Masters Degree in Education from Westfield State College. Erin is currently teaching elementary physical education in Belfast Maine.
Cid Dyjak
Coach Dyjak played collegiately at University of Maine Presque Isle. He is also the Girls Head Coach at Orono High School where he was named Maine High School Coach of the Year on two occasions. Has worked as a coach with the Maine Olympic Development Program, and Centers for Excellence. Coach Dyjak has his Premier Diploma from the NSCAA. He lives in Orono with his wife Ann and daughter Annalies.
Travers Evans
Coach Evans co-founded the club in 2001 and is the past president of BUFC. Coach Evans draws from his extensive playing and coaching experience having played at the division 1 level at Northeastern University.
Coach Evans is the Head Coach of the men's and women's soccer programs at Maine Maritime Academy after coaching at the University of Maine for seven seasons. He was named 2003 America East Coach of the Year, after guiding the Maine Black Bears to the playoffs. He was an assistant coach for four years at the University of Maine, the only division 1 soccer program in the state of Maine, before being named the head coach in April of 2000.
He was a staff coach with the Maine ODP program from 1996-1999 working with the 82 boys, as well as the 82/83 superleague team for SoccerMaine. Coach Evans received his NSCAA national diploma in 1997. He was a featured clinician at the Maine AGM in 1998.
Coach Evans lives in Dedham with his wife, Johanna, son Riley and daughters Taylor and Acadia.
Jackie Gebhart
Coach Gebhart, a 1995 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., was a four-year captain in addition to being named a three-time team Most Valuable Player, three-time All-South region and four-time All-Conference player. While at Sachem High School she earned All-State, All-County and All-Conference honors. Gebhart helped lead the 1987 squad to the state championship and her ’87 club team won the national championship.
Her coaching experience includes stints with an under-16 club team in Hickory, N.C., in addition to being director of the Catawba Valley Blast, a club team in North Carolina. She has has also coached with the Maine Olympic Development Program for two years and was recently named as an assistant coach for the ODP program. Gebhart is currently the Women's Assistant Coach at the University of Maine.
Mike Jeffrey
Joe Kacer
Coach Kacer was raised in a military family and exposed to soccer at an early age. He was trained by a Spanish professional soccer player for three years in Syracuse, New York. Joe was a place kicker for the Brewer High School football team and has coached for Bangor Soccer Club levels Pre-K to U12. Joe has also coached baseball, basketball, tennis and skiing. Joe stressed conditioning and the use of both fee in passing and shooting skills.
He is a licensed commercial diver and diving medical technician. Coach Kacer lives in Bangor with his wife who is from South Hampton, England and their five children. He holds his USSF E license.
Pat Laughlin
Coach Laughlin is the Head Men's soccer coach at the University of Maine and is a graduate of the University of Maine where he was a four-year letterman for the Black Bears.
Prior to Maine, Laughlin was the assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island for one year, and head coach at Dean College for six years. During his six seasons in Franklin, Mass, his teams, which included four NJCAA All-Americans and four Academic All-Americans, combined to post a record of 69-36-6. Laughlin was named New England Region Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the National Coach of the Year in 2002. Laughlin helped take the program to new heights, which included its first-ever trip to the NJCAA National Finals in 2002. During his tenure, the Bulldogs captured the New England Region Championships in 2002 and 2003 and were finalists in 2005.
Before Laughlin's arrival at Dean, he built a program at Champlain College, improving each season he was there to post a 28-21-3 record. The Beavers were Northeast Region Champions in 1997 and finalists in 1998 and 1999. As a Division I Assistant at Cleveland State University he acted as the recruiting and travel coordinator as well as assisted in preparing and initiating training sessions for the perennial Horizon League contenders.
Laughlin presently is a member of the Region I Olympic Development Program regional staff. He holds a "B" Coaching License from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and an Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
A native of Dallas, Texas, Laughlin is a 1992 graduate of the University of Maine, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He earned his Masters of Education in Sports Management at Cleveland State University in 1996 while also serving as assistant coach.
Mike McHugh
Coach McHugh works with the U14 Girls team as the assistant coach.
Dean Mekelburg
Coach Mekelburg is the coach of the 2008 State Cup Champion U12 boys team. Coach Mekelburg is a member of the NSCAA and holds a USSF National "D" license.
His coaching experience includes 4 years at the premier level in Northern Virginia and 7 years as a recreation volunteer before moving to Maine. Coach Mekelburg was a 2 year captain on the Colorado State Lacrosse team.
Chuck Morris
Coach Morris brings an enthusiam and passion for the game combined with coaching experience and expertise. For 8 years he coached the Winterport Soccer Team and the Phoenix Soccer Club. He is in his second season with BBUFC.
He holds a USSF "D" license, is a certified soccer official, and he has travelled across Europe with U.S. soccer teams.
Mike Noblet
Coach Noblet is the Head Goalkeeper Staff Coach and Head Coach of the U18 girls team. Coach Noblet brings extensive coaching and playing experience to Blackbear coaching staff. He has also worked as both goalkeeper and head coach of the U14 boys for Bangor Soccer Club travel team. A graduate of Thomas College coach Noblet helped lead his team to the NAIA Regional playoffs as both a keeper and midfielder in his senior season.
Coach Noblet draws on 27 years of playing experience at all levels of the game. Growing up in Texas and playing at the youth premier level for 8 years for such clubs as the Storm Soccer Club, Plano Wolves, and British Caledonian Diggers gave him a player’s view of high level club soccer. As a U16 Player Coach Noblet also was a goalkeeper coach for younger teams within the Diggers Soccer Club organization. Coach Noblet continues to play for an U30 tournament team out of Massachusetts and on local teams in the Bangor area including the Blackbear Coaches team.
Coach Noblet lives in Bangor with his wife Caroline.
Patsy Oversmith
Coach Oversmith joined Blackbear United in 2007 and is the coach and team administrator of the U12 Boys Classic team. Prior to joining Blackbear United, Coach Oversmith coached with the Phoenix Soccer Club. Oversmith is the President of the Bronco Travel Soccer Club based in Hampden and has been the president for the past three years. Oversmith has also coached the U10 Boys for the past three years.
Oversmith enjoys watching the game of soccer, has been involved in sports the majority of her life in coaching, playing and administration roles. Coach Oversmith has her E license.
Oversmith works full time at Stillwater Academy working with Autistic children and resides in Hampden with husband Tim and two boys Tyler and Paxton.
Chris Parsons
Coach Parsons is the coach of the 2008 State Champion U12 boys team. Parsons is the Head Men's Soccer Coach for the University of Maine at Farmington after serving as the assistant men's soccer coach at the University of Maine for one year. Parsons also has over five years of college head coaching experience at the NAIA and NCAA Division III level.
Prior to Maine, Parsons spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Bowdoin College where he helped guide the Polar Bears to an overall 21-7-2 record and an NSCAA top 20 national ranking in both years. Prior to Bowdoin College he was the men's head coach at Saint Joseph's College from 2003-2004 where led the team to the 2004 NCAA Division III Independent Northeast Regional Tournament.
He began his coaching career as men's head coach at Notre Dame College (NH), posting a 48-11-1 record from 1999 to 2001. The team won the Mayflower Conference Championship in 2000 and advanced to the Northeast Region Championship in 2000 and final four in 2001. The team received NSCAA Top 20 National Rankings in both 2000 and 2001. He was named Mayflower Conference Coach of the Year in 2000 and was a Northeast Region Coach of the Year finalist.
As a player, he made two NJCAA National Final Four appearances with Ulster County Community College (NY). Parsons then played at Thomas College (ME) where his team won the Maine Athletic Conference championship in 1995 and advanced to the Northeast Region tournament. Parsons was a team captain in 1996 and was a two-time All-New England, All-State and All-Conference selection.
Parsons has a BS in Sports Management from Thomas College and holds the United States Soccer Federation National "B" license.
Jay Pyne
Coach Pyne joined Blackbear in 2006. Together with Erin Caprara and Mike Saulter, he coaches
the U13 Girls who were 2008 State Champions at the U12 level. Coach Pyne has coached fall Travel Soccer for the last 4
years and holds a USSF "E" liscence.
Coach Pyne is an Orthopedic Surgeon who lives in Dixmont with his wife Sandra and their 3 children, Sarah, Abi and Chapin.
Kim Stephenson
Coach Stephenson is a junior engineering major at the University of Maine and plays on the women's soccer team where she has started for the Black Bears the past two seasons. Stephenson has been named to the America East Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll and a UMaine Scholar-Athlete Award winner the past two years in 2005, was named a Maine Academic Rising Star.
Prior to Maine, Stephenson was a two-year captain for Dewey Martin at Hampden Academy, scored 46 goals and added 48 assists during her career, was a three-time All-New England selection, a four-time Penobscot Valley First Team All-Conference selection, a four-time All-East Regional and All-State First Team selection, named to the Portland Press Herald First Team in 2001, 2002 and 2003, named Hampden Academy Most Valuable Player all four years, played on several state and regional teams, and was a standout in basketball and track.
Al Tripp
Coach Tripp joined the Blackbear United staff in 2007 and is the U14 Girls Head Coach and coaches the U11 Girls team as well. Coach Trip played for Husson College from 1991-94 where he earned his Business Administration and Marketing degree. While at Husson College, Tripp was named to the Maine Athletic Conference All-Star team (93’), was a 3-year captain (92-94) and was inducted into the Husson College Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Coach Tripp has coached youth soccer the past 8 years and brings his soccer experience and expertise to our program. Tripp is an Account Representative Horizon Solutions - Electrical Automation and a Partner in Real Estate Development Company - Emerald Group, LLC. Located in Orono, Maine. Coach Tripp lives in Bangor with his wife Erica of 13 years and their two daughters Logan and Tanner.
Tom Violette
Coach Violette joined Blackbear United this past Fall and brings many years of both coaching and playing experience. He played his collegiate soccer at the University of Maine at Farmington where he graduated with a degree in Public Health. Over the years he has coached at both the travel and premier levels. He holds a USSF "E" license.
Coach Violette works for Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems where his focus is on Provider Relations and Business Development. He and his wife Mary reside in Bangor with their two daughters.
