FC Westchester

Tax status: unverified — no ProPublica nonprofit match as of May 2026; legal entity structure not publicly disclosed on the club website.

Overview

FC Westchester is a Westchester County, NY youth soccer organization headquartered around the SUNY Purchase / Elmsford corridor. The club is a founding member of MLS NEXT, the elite boys youth platform launched by Major League Soccer in 2020. Self-reporting describes more than 4,000 academy participants across the region (club website, 2026), making it one of the larger competitive youth soccer organizations in the Tri-State area by program reach.

The legal entity is not disclosed on public-facing materials and no Form 990 filing appears in ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer under “FC Westchester” — suggesting the club is organized as a for-profit LLC or under a parent name that does not match the public brand. Tax status is therefore listed as unverified.

Financials

No public 990 data available. Revenue is not disclosed by the club. Based on ~4,000 academy participants and the operating profile of MLS NEXT-tier clubs, revenue is plausibly in the $4M–$8M range (LOW confidence — derived from peer comp without verified club-side data).

Teams & Players

• ~4,000 academy participants across the region (club self-reporting)
• Age groups: U9, U10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U17, U18/U19 (MLS NEXT and Pre-Academy)
• Numerous additional recreational and developmental tiers feed the competitive program

The 4,000 figure encompasses the academy/training programs as a whole; the elite competitive roster is a smaller subset.

League Affiliations

• MLS NEXT — founding member
• Northeast Academy League (Pre-Academy divisions)
• New York Club Soccer League (NYCSL)
• EDP Soccer

Facilities

• SUNY Purchase Stadium Turf, 735 Anderson Hill Road — primary training and competition venue

Field arrangement is via use agreement with SUNY Purchase rather than club ownership. Additional regional sites support the broader academy footprint.

Leadership

• George Gjokaj — President and Director of Soccer Operations
• Stephen Carson — Academy Director (former Northern Ireland international; named to academy director role in 2018; pro career began with Glasgow Rangers in 1997, scored 65 goals in 300 appearances at Coleraine FC 2004–2014)
• Loretta Sanin — Director of Operations
• Giuliano Santucci — MLS NEXT Goalkeeper Director

Board members include Don Farrell, Geoff Raker, Steve Seidman, and Xavier Egurbide.

Competitive Position

FC Westchester occupies the MLS NEXT slot in central Westchester County, with NYSC (Purchase, NY) competing for similar talent on both the boys MLS NEXT and Girls Academy sides. The MLS NEXT founding-member designation is a competitive distinction — only roughly 100 clubs nationwide hold the founding tier. The 4,000-participant academy footprint is meaningfully larger than most MLS NEXT peers in the region, suggesting a tiered model that funnels recreational/development players upward into the competitive pyramid.

Industry Context

FC Westchester is one of the more visible MLS NEXT clubs in the Tri-State area but operates without the financial transparency of a 501(c)(3). The for-profit (or hybrid) structure, paired with the large multi-tier participant base, fits a model seen in several large Northeast academies — competitive showcase teams underwritten and cross-subsidized by larger development and recreational pipelines. Westchester County is a notably competitive corridor: NYSC, FC Westchester, and the Manhattan-based ECNL programs all draw from overlapping demographic catchments, with field access (SUNY Purchase here, Randall’s Island for Manhattan SC, various municipal sites for NYSC) being a primary differentiator.

Note: distinct entity from Westchester SC, the USL League One professional team (Mount Vernon, NY) that began play in 2025.

Open Questions

• Legal entity / ownership structure (LLC, Inc., or other)
• Annual revenue and operating margin
• Whether the 4,000 number includes recreational or only competitive academy participants
• SUNY Purchase agreement terms and tenure
• Founding year (not disclosed on public materials)