2020 seems like such a tumultuous year for grassroots soccer, what made you choose this year to found your club? Had it been in the works for a while; who started the club and why?
While 2020 has been a difficult year to say the least, the vision of bringing a soccer club to the Greenville community has been in the works since early 2018. Greenville United was started by three local friends with a passion for soccer and a vision of bringing the community together through the beautiful game. Our goal is to provide a competitive platform for adult local players to showcase their talent on a regional/national level.

Isn't Greenville already home to a USL and a NPSL club? What will United do differently? What niche will your club fill?
Currently the city of Greenville is without a club competing in the major amateu/semi-professional soccer leagues (USL, NPSL, USPL,NASL).Therefore, Greenville United aims to provide a platform for local talent to compete at the highest level outside of Major League professional soccer.

You recently appointed Aaron Okwei as your first head coach! What made him stand out amongst other candidates? Aside from training and matchday responsibilities, what other hats will he have to wear to get this club up and running?
The decision to appoint Aaron as our HC was a no-brainer. Aaron is not only a well known and respected figure within the local soccer community but he is also passionate and hungry to help grow the game in our area. Aside from training and matchday responsibilities, Aaron will also be heavily involved in community engagement projects.

Sometimes it seems like the lower league soccer world is flooded with kits and scarf sales - will Greenville United FC be dependent on selling merch, do you have sponsors lined up; what model do you hope to use to keep the operations running?
As mentioned, many clubs at our level depend on selling merchandise to pay the bills. While we will offer merchandise, it will not be our primary source of income. Aside from the personal funds the owners have invested we have also been fortunate enough to have secured a few sponsorships from local businesses and are in conversations with plenty of others!

“Okwei comes to Greenville United after earning a Master’s of Science in Bio Engineering from North Carolina A&T University. He is currently completing his MBA at UNC Pembroke. Prior to that Okwei earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry w… — “Okwei comes to Greenville United after earning a Master’s of Science in Bio Engineering from North Carolina A&T University. He is currently completing his MBA at UNC Pembroke. Prior to that Okwei earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry with a minor in Chemistry and Green Engineering from Virginia Tech. Okwei is a manufacturing engineer for Thermo-Fisher.”

Soccer seems to be huge in your area - are you directly affiliated with a youth program? How will you connect to the soccer community?
We are not affiliated with a youth program at this point. We are looking to bring exciting football to the diverse community of Greenville. Not only will we offer a platform for local players to showcase their talent, but we will also provide an environment for local soccer fans to watch the highest level of competitive soccer in the area.

Covid seems to have impacted every city and state differently; do you expect to play a full or slightly modified season in 2021? Has it affected any plans for trials or scrimmages to this point?
Currently we are planning on playing a full schedule in the spring of 2021. Like any other organization we have also been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While we were fortunate enough to hold our first trials this past month, we did have to move the date around a couple of times to meet local restrictions and protocols.

Follow Greenville United FC HERE

Find out more about Greenville United FC HERE