After recently running our largest ever Copa de Insignias, we were fortunate enough to have some real amazing badges come along our way. We wanted to find out more about the equally amazing clubs behind those badges and knew we had to call out to WV Highlanders FC - Ryan Wall, General Manager, Coach, and Founder of the club answered the call.

When was WV Highlanders FC founded and by whom? What is the club's mission and what influenced those who started the club to make that mission?
I founded the club in February 2021, last year. I did it with (essentially) two other partners; Brandon Regan, currently Assistant Coach at Robert Morris University's Women's Team, and Sean Regan, Head Men's Coach at West Liberty University. Brandon and I head up the coaching for our U23 Men's Team that plays in the Ohio Valley Premier League, I also coach our U18 Academy Team, and Sean supports in various other areas - player recruitment, equipment, etc.

Our club mission is to make high level soccer more accessible. That's accessible for both youth and adult players that cannot afford or find quality coaching or a team to join. It is also for fans of the game in the Wheeling, WV area that want to see high level soccer through the summer. I grew up in the U.K where the game was accessible to all, you could touch it so to speak. We want that to be the same here. Examples of what we do are, we keep the fees for our U23 players very low for 3 months of high college level coaching and games, our U18 Academy players pay (a few hundred bucks) a fraction of what most youth clubs charge, and fans can attend our games for free of charge.

What league(s) do you play in? Have you always been in the same league and how often does the club evaluate that to see if it needs to take on higher-level competition?
Our U23 Team is in the Ohio Valley Premier League https://ovplsoccer.com/. It's a newer league that is one of the best adult amateur leagues for men's and women's teams in PA, OH, WV, IN and KY. We looked at NPSL and USL, but OVPL was the most accessible with a much lower cost to enter and offered a lot of support in terms of scheduling, recruitment of players, and a number of other things that new clubs have to deal with. Also, most teams we faced last season were full of college players, so the level of the play was very high - ideal competition - so it just worked out really well for us. We will always keep our eyes open, but we are very proud to be a member of the OVPL and excited to help contribute to its growth within the region.

WV Highlanders FC players volunteering at a youth soccer practice

Were you able to compete in 2021; was it a covid-impacted season? If so, how did you finish and what goals are you setting for the club in 2022?
We did compete in 2021 from May thru July and we finished 2nd in the OVPL Valley conference missing out on the OVPL Championship Final match by just one point, so it was a big success! Especially considering we established the team/club only three months earlier. There's a natural turn-over of players at this level, so it's not always easy to predict in January how the next May-July season will go. That said, another season in 2022 competing in the top half of the league is our baseline goal.

Are you a part of a youth organization or do you partner with one to provide an adult end of the development funnel? Where else do you draw your talented players from?
Initially, we set ourselves up as an Adult Club. With our relationships with local and regional college programs, we are able to recruit the core of our team as long as we start early enough. We also ran a tryout and last year picked up several players from it, some from over an hour away. We have another one coming up on January 29 here in Wheeling (registration still open www.wvhighlanders.com). We don't yet partner with a youth organization but we're speaking to them. Also, I folded my (now) youth team into our club. These (now) U18s are mostly all local Wheeling area players that I've coached for almost 10 year now, and five of them were in our U23 team last season (aged just 16-17).

Lower league soccer is chock full of clubs playing the merch game; do you have any great scarves or kits for sale? Sticker or hats? If so, where can people buy items to support your club? If not, how do you keep the lights on? Great sponsors?
Yes we have fantastic merch! We sell some brilliant Coffee Mugs, T-Shirts, and Koozies! All available on our website www.wvhighlanders.com ! :) Unfortunately, these don't really fund much, but they look GREAT!!! Honestly, we keep the lights on through the support of our wonderful sponsors, and the dedication of our unpaid volunteer Coaches and Game-Day helpers.

Check out WV Highlanders FC merch and more on their website HERE
Follow WV Highlanders FC in the twitterverse HERE