The Northern Virginia Royals proudly announced today that John Pascarella will assume an assistant coaching position with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer.   Pascarella departs immediately to begin his professional coaching tenure as the Wizards goalkeeping and conditioning coach following two seasons at the Royals helm.

 

Pascarella leaves the Royals following a 3-8-5 season that showed marked improvement for the Northern Virginia club despite the losing record.  Pascarella assumed the Royals head coach position in May of 2007 following the departure of Silvino Gonzalo. Only the second head coach in the Royals twelve-year history, Pascarella coached in the Northern Virginia Super Y-League program prior to his role on the PDL team. He coached both the U20 and U17 Royals teams in 2005 and 2006.

 

A Region 1 Olympic Development Program (ODP) Camp staff coach, Pascarella has also led the Virginia ODP ’90 boys team since 2002.   Pascarella also played professionally as a goalkeeper and was part of the initial Northern Virginia Royals roster from 1998 – 1999.

 

The Royals plan to announce the new Northern Virginia PDL head coach within the next ten days to allow for some administrative restructuring.

 

The Northern Virginia Royals face a challenging schedule of opponents in the Mid Atlantic Division in the upcoming season, including the Hampton Roads Piranhas and historical powerhouse Carolina Dynamo. The Royals will kick off their home season in May with a full schedule to be announced in late winter.