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Mark Dillon

  • Class
    1978
  • Honors
    Men's Soccer (1971-1972)
Mark Dillon grew up in the Bay Area, and played soccer for the Dons from 1971 to 1972 while attending USF, and graduated in 1978. At 5' 9", 160 lbs, he was drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes in  1976, but left the to play for Wrexham AFC in Britain. 

In 1985, Dillon founded the first professional soccer team in Orlando. “I’ve been deeply passionate about the game for as long as my memory lasts,” Dillon said. “And you know, I evolved from being a player to being a coach. When I moved to Central Florida in 1983, it was to be the head coach at Rollins College. And I loved the job.”

“They thrived on it. Rent the stadium, and we’d sell tickets, and we’d have a little bit of merchandise and stuff like that, but it was the very, very early days of all this. And then we did this for two full years of playing these type of games,” said Dillon. “The third year, we were part of an initiative to reform the American Soccer League, and that came out of New York, and it resurrected teams like Tampa Bay Rowdies, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Washington Diplomats, Philadelphia Atoms. It was primarily an East Coast League, but that was the start of what ultimately became MLS." The original Orlando Lions eventually failed, Dillon said, like every other pro team at the time (Orlando City SC; ClickOrlando.com)."

In 2019, he started the Talent Projekt based in Dusseldorf, Germany with 20 young American players born in 2004. It helps young players develop and nurture in a foreign environment, both on and off the pitch. The program gives American youths opportunities in the European system. When FIFA passed a law in 2009 that prohibited international transfers under the age of 18, he explains in an interview with Soccer Parent Resource Center, "I started Talent Projekt as a study abroad program. And then around it, I wrapped, extracted a Bundesliga, player development protocol system, so that it would allow talented young American boys the advantages of getting into the European system without falling out and falling into trouble with FIFA law. Basically we're a fully immersive program where we bring players in. They understand player development protocols, how to play in a professional system in Germany, which is very, very high level. And essentially, they get an experience that can't yet be replicated in the United States. And so it's accelerated learning, accelerated growth, accelerated development. And that's our aim (Soccerparentresourcecenter.com)."

Currently, he coaches the Women's Soccer team at the University of Oregon. 

 

 




 



 

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