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Soccer Without Borders (SWB) is thrilled to announce that Carson McFadden has been named the new Director of SWB Maryland! First joining our full-time staff in early 2016 as program coordinator at our Bay Area hub, it didn’t take long for Carson to become one of SWB’s most influential coaches and leaders, both on and off the pitch.
Carson, who earned a bachelor's degree in English from Manchester University, has been serving as program manager at our Maryland hub since the spring of 2021 and has been instrumental in the growth and success of SWB Maryland’s high school boys program. While not lending his leadership talents at our Baltimore-based hub, Carson could often be found co-leading Switch the Pitch Inclusive Coaching Trainings with SWB Assist, setting up our newest coaches for success at our internal Coach Foundations training series, and more.
Now, as Maryland’s newest director, Carson will leverage his extensive experience to guide the hub into its next chapter of growth and impact.
As we congratulate him on his new role, Carson shared his reflections on what originally brought him to SWB and which aspects of the position excite him most:
Can you describe your personal connection with the game of soccer and the SWB mission?
I’ve been a soccer player and soccer fan since I can remember, and played throughout high school and college. Being a soccer player has always been a strong part of my identity. I first experienced SWB as a volunteer, and immediately felt welcomed and included, and it was such a big reminder of what soccer is truly all about. While I wasn’t a newcomer, I was new to the group, and the belonging we aim to create for our participants now is what I felt back then. Looking back, it all started with being invited to play soccer with SWB high school boys in Oakland.
Can you share a little about your journey with SWB?
After graduating from college and moving to the Bay Area in 2015, I was eager to keep soccer a part of my life, but felt that simply playing in a league somewhere wasn’t quite enough. A friend told me about SWB, and I was eventually able to volunteer at Oakland International High School. On my very first day, I remember feeling nervous and even intimidated by meeting so many people and being new in the space, but it was a reminder that soccer was bringing the entire group together, that was something very familiar to me. After volunteering for a few months, I began coaching, and then joined the Oakland team full-time in 2016. Since then, it’s been changing roles and responsibilities, new faces, teammates, and participants each year, and even new locations after moving to Baltimore in 2020. However, throughout all of those changes, growth has been ever present, along with the desire to continue working to deliver on SWB’s mission. I’ve been excited by every transition, and I’m thrilled to be stepping into the Program Director role here in Maryland.
Why do you think soccer is uniquely positioned to make a positive impact in the lives of newcomer youth?
Soccer is uniquely positioned to make a positive impact in the lives of newcomer youth because it’s a language all on its own. In Maryland, where we have participants from 46 countries, speaking over 27 languages, English might be the only verbal language everyone speaks even a single word of. Alongside that, as one of the world’s most popular and widely played sports, soccer is guaranteed to be a shared experience and passion.
What excites you most about your new role as Maryland hub director?
I’m really excited to have a role in steering the Maryland hub in some new directions. This upcoming year, we plan on rethinking what SWB programs need to look like. We have 15 years of experience building programs in Maryland and we’ve developed deep relationships in communities, but we also aim to continue to grow through innovation and creativity, with the goal of bringing different forms of SWB to new parts of Baltimore and new parts of Maryland.
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