NCSL Hires Experienced Technical Director, National Champion Coach and
Former Professional as Executive Director: Jamil Walker To Lead NCSL
Into its Fifth Decade

WASHINGTON – Jamil Walker has been named Executive Director of the National Capital Soccer League.  A former MLS Cup Champion and current Assistant Technical Director of McLean Youth Soccer, Walker officially assumed his new role on Monday, October 2, 2023. 

 

“As the area’s premier promotion-relegation league, serving approximately 35,000 travel soccer players every year, representing many of the most successful clubs in the nation, the National Capital Soccer League is one of the oldest and most recognizable leagues in youth soccer."  said Richard Smith, NCSL President.  "With Jamil as Executive Director, we will be led by an experienced local technical director with impeccable coaching credentials, a stellar reputation for excellence, and the maturity to move the league forward into new and exciting offerings for our clubs and their members."

 

Walker's background is ideally suited to lead NCSL, which is now in its 43rd year.  He joins the league with 14 years experience as a head coach, age group director, and Assistant Technical Director with MYS, an NCSL member club.  While with McLean, he guided teams to multiple State Cup, Region I, and National Championships and finals.  And he was named the 2014 NSCAA National Boys Youth Coach of the Year.  He is a former professional soccer player, having been drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft.  In his first year, he and his San Jose side won the MLS Cup.  Jamil connected with Landon Donovan during the side's playoff run on a goal that is often mentioned as among the best in MLS history.  Jamil later joined DC United, where he helped the team earn two straight Supporters Shields.  Off the pitch, Jamil has enjoyed a career in software development, having begun as a freelance web developer in 2005 and later serving for 23 years as a Senior Software Engineer with UnitedHealth Group -- Optum.

 

"I began my career in NCSL, having played as a youth in the DMV with Vienna, Herndon, Chantilly, and the Washington Diplomats,"  said Walker.  "I have tremendous respect for the league and its commitment to being club-centric while still scheduling within a promotion-relegation system.  The majority of kids in our area play their travel soccer in NCSL just like I did, and I want their experience in the league to be just as rewarding and fulfilling as it was for me.  I look forward to building on the platform NCSL has established, with responsible flexibility, college recruitment opportunities, and top-flight coaching education programming, while at the same time expanding into more referee recruitment and support and the expansion into recreational soccer."

 

Among Jamil's initial responsibilities will be managing the transition of NCSL from a travel-only league into a league that offers two levels of competition:  the traditional travel program and a new recreational program that NCSL will launch this Spring in coordination with the closure of the Suburban Friendship League.

 

The National Capital Soccer League is a travel soccer league offering appropriate competition for boys and girls teams aged 7 through 19.  With approximately 1,200 teams competing in eleven age groups, NCSL is one of the oldest, largest, and most well-known travel soccer leagues in the country.  It currently features 59 member clubs centered in Maryland, DC, Virginia, and West Virginia.