Force Football Club History

The Force FC started as the “travel” component of the Bloomfield Hills Youth Soccer League ( (originally Bloomfield Force) back in the early 90’s. The original founders of the league/club were Dr. Bill Nixon, Robert Sisk and Rick Pinkos. These three men, with the help of Bill Powers, created a travel component to the existing recreational program (BHYSL). This created an opportunity for the best players to develop their soccer abilities in order to prepare them for High School soccer at Lahser and Andover.

The club, originally started with only 4 teams, offered Andy Wagstaff a position as a club trainer which evolved into a full-time Director of Coaching position in 1995. At that time Andy was still playing professionally for the Detroit Neon, but enthusiasm for the game enable him to create some new policies that helped shape the future of the club.

The first policy implemented was to start teams at U10 rather than U12, continue beyond U14, and play all the way to U18. Next was to hire only coaches who are considered qualified and most important, initiating a grass roots program called the Center of Excellence. This grassroots program enabled the Force to select the best young players from the BHYSL and start training them under the direction of the new Director of Coaching. Incredibly the first young teams started went on to achieve great things. The Boys 1990 age group eventually won the State Cup for Michigan at U18. Several of those boys went on to play collegiate soccer at Princeton, Oakland University, Michigan, MSU, Washington University etc.

The 1989 Bloomfield Force girls went on to win back-to back National championships, the first ever in Michigan. They also went on to represent Michigan, UCONN, Villanova, MSU, Northwestern and Oakland University just to name a few. This group also produced two national team players in Jackie Carron (Michigan) and Laura Heyboer (MSU) who started with the Force at U12 and U14 respectively.

Another focus has been maintaining quality game facilities. The Force FC "home" is the Bloomfield Schools District; including West Hills Middle School, Lahser HS and Andover HS for outdoor games. For indoor, the club recently forged a relationship that provides us with the Silverdome Properties (Mini-dome and Fieldhouse) throughout the winter. This relationship enables the Force FC to provide more training hours throughout the winter than ever before.

The Force FC has placed over 100 players into collegiate programs and takes great pride in developing players from both a soccer and life skills perspective.

Force FC players wear two stars on the logo because the club owns two-National USYSA Championships.