How Westchester SC is building a club that can last
Owner Mitch Baruchowitz breaks down Westchester SC's community focus and Championship-caliber standard ahead of their League One expansion year
Gio Reyna. Joe Scally. Tyler Adams. If you care about American soccer and the next generation leading the men’s national team, then you’re familiar with the massive talent that came up just outside of New York City.
It’s easy to consider New York as a monolithic metropolis, but the areas beyond the city proper are a soccer hotbed. Still, there’s never been a professional team to represent those areas in earnest. Starting in 2025, USL League One’s Westchester SC is finally bringing the pro game to town.
Mitch Baruchowitz, the club’s founder and majority owner, is a long-time resident of the tri-state area. Baruchowitz lived in New Jersey when the MetroStars were around, and he was there when NYCFC debuted in MLS in 2015. Now, he hopes to expand the sport even further – with the help of investors like Tyler Adams himself.
In an interview with USL Tactics, Baruchowitz laid out the argument for Westchester as a prime market for professional soccer. The region’s demographics and existing youth infrastructure, in his view, make the region the perfect place for expansion.
“When you look at kids spending big money on academies, [Westchester County] is almost second to none. I think there are 4,000 kids in our region paying an average of $3,500 to be in an academy – we’re talking about a $12 million, $13 million spend every year,” Baruchowitz explained. “And then you have travel and youth teams, and you're talking about a $30 million regional spend on just youth soccer.”
Westchester is a wealthy and densely populated area. The outlay on the youth game proves as much, and the county’s median income exceeds $100,000. Meanwhile, cities like White Plains, Yonkers, Rye, and Mount Vernon – where the club will play – combine for a population of more than a million. That’s before you consider the fact that America’s largest city is a short train ride away.
Still, American soccer has too often been the domain of the wealthy. It would be easy for Westchester SC to fall into that trap given the county’s demographics.
Baruchowitz’s aim is to expand the horizons in a county that, while being admittedly well-endowed, also sports burgeoning minority communities and a blue-collar spirit that belie the stereotype of opulence.
“We're close to announcing something with the Boys & Girls Clubs where we can go and give less privileged kids the chance to play in an elite academy. It’s developing some of the blue-collar players that you just won't see in academies,” said Baruchowitz. “Everyone's talked about pay-to-play for years, but it's hard to change it unless you are willing to change it. Being connected to a pro team means more scholarship, more opportunities.”
That sensibility – build on existing infrastructure, but work to expand access to the sport – defines Westchester SC’s approach in multiple ways. By virtue of bringing professional soccer to Westchester county, the club is widening horizons. Still, it’s doing so by leaning on local pillars at the ground floor.
Simon Baines, owner of the New York Premier FC youth program, was named the club’s academy head and first-ever sporting director at launch. His organization oversees hundreds of young players across numerous age groups. The synergy immediately gives Westchester a leg up on other expansions that lack an academy grounding, and it inserts the club directly into the community from bottom-up.
Danny Dekker also joined the club’s leadership in the development stage. Just as Baines is a trailblazer in the local youth scene, Dekker has been active in the semi-pro space.
“It all started with an idea from Danny [Dekker], who was looking to replicate what he had done with the New York Dutch Lions,” said Baruchowitz. “When we met, I said ‘Westchester is a place where we can make this work,’ especially with my local connections, the local business acumen, the fact that there are a lot of academies and a lot of high schools with great programs. It just felt like, if we really engaged the community the right way, this could be something.“
The Dutch Lions program has sponsored men’s and women’s semi-pro teams for the better part of a decade, most memorably as part of the Women’s Premier Soccer League. While Westchester themselves have yet to announce an effort in either the USL W League or USL Super League, that synergy still captures their focus on fostering the broader swathes of the sport.
Truncated timelines, high aspirations
Westchester SC is set to play at Memorial Field in Mount Vernon, toward the south end of the county. Built nearly a century ago, the stadium underwent a $40 million renovation project that was completed in 2022. Baruchowitz notes that seating will be added behind the nets for greater proximity, alongside other improvements meant to optimize the gameday experience.
The progress in terms of the youth pipeline and stadium upgrades is impressive, and even more so in the context of Westchester’s hastened expansion timeline. The club was announced last May, and there wasn’t much run-up or preparation before that point.
“Putting it together in nine months is a little bit crazy – I realize now why everyone wanted us to play in 2026,” admitted Westchester’s founder. “It's been all work, no play.”
“Some of these teams, like Hearts of Pine, originally launched in 2020, so you’re looking at four-and-a-half years of grueling work to get here. I can't say I've had a long time getting here, but it's the same work – we just compressed it into nine months.”
Westchester felt that it was important to get off the ground as soon as possible, especially with the World Cup looming in 2026. In Baruchowitz’s view, coming online a year ahead of that competition, which will be held in the United States, was the only way to draw fans’ attention; soccer supporters only have so much time and money to spend on the sport, and there was a fear that the World Cup might box out a fledgling USL League One side.
The challenge ran further than timing. Marketing a new club requires great effort, as Westchester has quickly learned.
“I'm open about those trials and tribulations, the imposter syndrome that hits you when you realize that this is hard,” Baruchowitz admitted. “It's really difficult to launch a team in a country that only thinks of ‘professional’ like MLS, so then you have to educate. But six months later we've been educating, and now half of Westchester now knows what the USL is when they didn't before. And then if you have a Brooklyn team next year – wow!”
That league distinction matters for every team in the pyramid. Most prospective owners lack the billions of dollars needed to join MLS, leaving growing leagues like USL League One and MLS Next Pro as the most likely choices. Thus, Baruchowitz and his team had a decision to make.
A third-division competition much like League One, Next Pro prides itself as a font of youth development and is due to add a team in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut in 2026. Still, League One was the better fit for Westchester’s priorities because of its relative sense of freedom.
“We will be announcing a few players that are from the region that are currently 17, 18, or 19, and will probably be your 18th to 23rd players on the team, but they'll be on the first team bench to start. Think of their development versus MLS Next Pro,” Baruchowitz explained. “There are very few Next Pro guys that are going to be practicing with the first team. It's run as a separate program.”
With its USL Academy contract program that saves a player’s college eligibility, the USL gives up-and-comers more flexibility. Last season, League One and the Championship also adopted a reform by which home teams could roster two additional U-18 players on the bench. It’s all evidence of the USL prioritizing youth development, and it’s a major reason why Westchester opted to join the USL.
League One’s expansion fee is reported to be $5 million, which exceeds the going rate in Next Pro. Still, the USL’s ambition made the choice a no-brainer for Westchester SC.
“If you're making the financial commitment to do a Next Pro team, it feels like it would be hard to carry off as a ‘professional’ team that people want to watch,” Baruchowitz said. In his mind, the increasingly tight bond between the USL Championship and USL League One was a major upside – and the potential of a pro-rel system deepened the appeal.
“I also think the USL is building something really exciting, which is the concept of promotion relegation,” said Baruchowitz. “Whether you're a Championship team or a League One team joining the USL at this point, you have to be committed to the eventuality of promotion and relegation. You can't be hardcore anti-promotion and relegation, even if you're paying the money for a franchise in the Championship. The USL is not allowing that. They're saying this is something that we are going to push very hard, something we believe in.”
Westchester’s founder continued: “People always say, ‘well, someone paid $500 million for San Diego, why would they agree to promotion and relegation!’ The truth is, what would the TV dollars look like for an integrated [pyramid]? I think you can always figure out the money. Even the MLS owners, a lot of them are amazing visionaries, amazing business people who understand that this could be better for their business. They'll figure it out. That could be seven years now, eight years from now - there's no rush, and you have to do it right at each level.”
Whether pro-rel is an immediate priority or not, the USL has taken steps - as Baruchowitz said - to get it right at every level. League headquarters advises new owners to help them get up and running.
“The League has offered a lot of resources. They now have a commercial committee. There's obviously an [executive committee]. They’ve built a lot of infrastructure because they also have the Championship to work from,” he said. “We have an economic cluster that segregates the teams and allows you to deal with other owners and go through best practices. You have an onboarding team that supports you, and there were a lot of things where they helped us, from communications to everything else. I don't think we'd be here without their support.”
Building a team - and a community
It takes a village to start a soccer team, and the challenge of building out a holistic operation was heftier than anticipated for Westchester SC. Soccer is a unique and often money-losing industry that required Baruchowitz to re-think his standard business approach.
“You want to do things like a startup, lean – but there is no ‘lean,’” he said. “You need ticketing people. You need sponsorship people. You need sales people. You need game day. All these things come together, and you start to realize this is not a one-man show.”
What does a USL organization actually look like, and what does it take to build one from scratch? Public information is slim, but it’s clear that building a functioning apparatus is a tall task.
Take the front office. Comparable League One sides to Westchester like One Knox list nearly a dozen front office members on their website; that number is 21 for the Greenville Triumph. The Oakland Roots in the USL Championship ascribed more than $4 million in costs to personnel in their 2022 and 2023 financial reports. A large chunk of that money naturally goes to players, but there are numerous roles to fill off the pitch.
While knowledge sharing is key and top-down guidance is available, League One isn’t composed of identikit franchises. Each team is built differently, and the USL template can only go so far in the New York metro.
“The league tries to give you as much scaffolding as you can absorb. One of the challenges is that the information is built on the markets they're [already] in,” he explained. “Where are they getting their feedback loop from? It's Greenville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Omaha – who are great, by the way.”
Baruchowitz continued: “None of the advice is going to be perfect, given that each market is idiosyncratic, and especially our market. Hearts of Pine has absolutely nailed it – they took years, did listening tours in their community, and really nailed their branding. We didn't have time to do that. We had to launch some things and then see.”
With the launch-stage groundwork laid, Westchester SC has turned their attention to the on-field competition. The club kicks off just over a month from now, though their first home game won’t arrive until April 27th.
Ahead of that debut, Westchester selected Dave Carton as their first-ever head coach. Carton spent more than a decade with the Charlotte Independence organization as the club transitioned from the USL Championship into USL League One. Over the years in Charlotte, he led the academy, served as head coach at the USL League Two level, and eventually became a first-team assistant.
Still just 41 years old and armed with that vast experience, Carton fit the bill that Westchester SC desired out of their manager.
“We wanted someone who knew League One through and through. It felt to me like a thing you didn’t want to take a chance on. It didn't have to be an existing assistant coach or an existing [head] coach, but we generally wanted someone who we felt confident understood the league,” the club’s founder explained. “When we got to the player selection side, we wanted someone who was like ‘here's the style you're gonna see across this landscape. Let's have players that are suited for that.’”
Carton’s local connections – his wife has family in the area – helped his cause. His developmental nous was also primary. Westchester considered local developmental coaches for the manager role but ultimately decided that someone with pro-level experience was better-suited for the job.
The task of building a squad doesn’t fall squarely on Carton’s shoulders. Westchester elected to separate the roles of head coach and sporting director ahead of their inaugural campaign.
USL teams increasingly choose to divide their staff in that manner. Holdouts like the El Paso Locomotive, for example, got on board this offseason. FC Tulsa has opted for a tripartite split, employing a technical director, sporting director, and head coach to focus on the academy, player acquisition, and day-to-day management without other distractions.
Hence, Westchester appointed the aforementioned Simon Baines as their sporting director. Baines’ job is to oversee the academy and help spearhead roster construction.
“Most teams have one sporting director and coach, but I wanted a sporting director focusing on player acquisition and looking at a bigger funnel of players,” Baruchowitz attested. “The sacrifice there is that you're paying more money for two people to do that job. I envy the teams that think they can have one guy do both jobs and look at the funnel of players.”
Per Baruchowitz, the club looked at more than 2,000 players in the process of building a 22-man squad. Dividing out that immense workload allowed Westchester to get a better perspective on potential overseas signings beyond the traditional purview of League One.
Consider the club’s Dutch contingent. At the time of writing, Westchester had announced three players from the Netherlands with a fourth on the way. Doubling down on a Dutch delegation with ample European experience filled a competitive need, but it also meshed with the club’s region-specific identity.
New York City, of course, was originally New Amsterdam. The club’s “W” logo is not only a reference to the first letter in “Westchester” but is designed to reflect the architecture of the Tappan Zee Bridge, named for a river crossing christened by 17th century Dutch settlers. Need more evidence of the ties? As I interviewed Baruchowitz, one of the Dutch signees literally gifted the owner a tin of stroopwafel.
Still, quality was always the overriding factor behind the squad build. Internally, expectations are high for Westchester’s maiden campaign.
“When you look at the full roster construction - and I can't say more, Simon [Baines] and Dave [Carton] will kill me – I think you'll see a quality that is reminiscent of USL Championship teams,” Baruchowitz predicted. “The three that we've announced in terms of foreign players, Dean [Guezen], Koen [Blommestijn] and Daniel Bouman, I don't think you look at those players and say, ‘oh, they can't play in the Championship,’ right? It’s expanding that funnel.”
Westchester anticipates that only a handful of their players will have previously played in USL League One. The familiar faces, like ex-Charlotte star Joel Johnson, Trinidad international Noah Powder, and former Madison standout Stephen Payne, are perennial all-league candidates who signify just how competitive this team intends to be.
Some of the other additions bring MLS experience. Andrew Jean-Baptiste was once with the Philadelphia Union. Kemar Lawrence, the team’s first-ever signing, was a standout with the New York Red Bulls before being sold to Europe.
Whether the additions were foreign or domestic, familiar or unfamiliar, that proximity to New York City was a draw in terms of recruiting. Lawrence was attracted by a return to the New York metro. So was Conor McGlynn, brother of Jack McGlynn and a USL Championship with Hartford and Rhode Island.
Westchester SC intends to keep leverage geography to attract players and expand their outreach to potential fans.
“There are a lot of players that want to play in New York. I mean, it’s a great market,” said the club’s founder. “We're very close on a great linear TV deal that will bring us into people's households in New York City and in regions of [New] Jersey and Connecticut. You get that in New York – you might not find a local regional sports channel that can do that in other markets.”
Talk to coaches throughout the league, and there’s already an awareness that Westchester is willing to spend. Still, the approach goes deeper than just signing big names and hoping for the best.
“We expect to compete in every game and bring the intensity. That's one of the reasons why we are probably spending a little bit more than the average,” said Baruchowitz. “One of the things that we have that you might not find in other markets is a great recovery partner…we've signed a sponsorship with a recovery partner where you get therapies for players. Post-game, the recovery should be a little better, which helps with injuries and fitness.”
Baruchowitz and his club are confident that they’ve set the team up for success. The next step is continuing to build a relationship with the community. Between corporate partnerships - think about the recovery deal or a kit sponsorship package with Northwell Health - and academy tie-ins, Westchester SC has already begun to make inroads.
Westchester partnered with Hummel as their kit manufacturer, employing a company known for creative custom designs. Down the line, the club expects to launch as many as four alternate kits – Baruchowitz teased a Headless Horseman-themed stripe around Halloween – in addition to their white-and-gold home jersey.
Baruchowitz acknowledges that their first-ever shirt employs a simple design. That’s intentional: rather than manufacture a stilted identity from day one, the club hopes to develop their distinctive look over time and build a tradition organically.
“We hope people see that circular badge, see the ‘We are Westchester’ or the tagline ‘Welcome to Soccer County,’” Baruchowitz said, “and that it really means something.”
Making sure that Westchester SC truly represents Westchester County is the goal. Yes, centralized league advice has helped the club, and, yes, there are aspirations for pro-rel down the road. Still, it’s that commitment to the local game, the youth pipeline, and that sense of community that drives the club’s aspirations. If all goes to plan, Baruchowitz imagines that the next generation of Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna types might come up as Westchester SC fans.
“My dream is, I'm walking down the street one day and these kids are going to a soccer practice. One's wearing a Real Madrid jersey, a Man City jersey, a Red Bulls jersey, and a Westchester SC Jersey – to see the joy on those kids’ faces and to bring this community together.”