Mark, the founder of The Edge Soccer Programs, has over 25 years coaching experience. Many players whom he trained have advanced to the top level clubs, colleges, and professional teams. Mark has coached and trained teams for CASL (including U23s), TFC, Cary Clarets PDL, and Raleigh Elite. He was also an Assistant Coach for the Carolina Railhawks.
Karen is The Edge's office manager that handles all aspects of day-to-day business operations including our go-to "mom" for anything and everything. She has worked in the soccer industry for over 17 years and a true soccer mom at heart. Her oldest son played for NCFC's Academy team, NC State University, the U23 North Carolina FC team (during the summer) and played professionally for the Richmond Kickers in Virginia. He has since retired and works full time in the financial industry now. Her youngest son played for NCFC and Heritage High School. He currently plays for Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte and you can find Karen at the games cheering him on!
Chris played youth soccer locally for CASL and Green Hope HS. He graduated from UNCC with a B.S.B.A in 2010. His background includes 10 plus years of youth soccer coaching experience.
Akira was born in Japan and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He played collegiately at Wake Forest University from 2006-2010 where the teams went to four College Cups and won the 2007 National Championship. Akira started his professional career with the Carolina Railhawks (now North Carolina FC) and has played for over 13 years. For the last three years he has also been the Goalkeeping Coach for the Richmond Kickers pro team and holds his US Soccer B Coaching license.