In Club Developed Coach, Carranza To Lead Women's Team
FC Wichita is pleased to announce Gonzalo Carranza as head coach of the new United Women's Soccer League ("UWS") expansion side.
On January 18th, 2021, Wichita announced it's expansion into the UWS ahead of the 2021 season that will kickoff in May. FC Wichita will round out the conference lineup alongside a quartet of teams including the Nebraska-based Gretna Elite Academy, KC Courage and two teams from Missouri in St. Louis Scott Gallagher and Springfield Demize. The club is the second UWS team based in Kansas alongside the Courage (Overland Park, KS).
“We are excited to add FC Wichita to United Women’s Soccer,” said UWS Commissioner Joe Ferrara Jr. “The organization has a proven track record of operating a successful soccer franchise. One of the key factors in joining UWS was the desire for FC Wichita to provide its players a pathway to professional soccer, which the league has shown its ability to accomplish both domestically and internationally.”
Prior to 2020 Carranza spent three seasons as an assistant on FC Wichita's men's National Premier Soccer League team, while also leading teams within the youth academy system. Most recently he was named head coach of the U17 ECNL Girls Academy and Director of Youth Camps. Now, Carranza will take the reins of the Women's senior team with the full support and confidence of the club behind him, said FC Wichita CEO Blake Shumaker.
"Gonzalo is more than a right choice for this job. We believe he's one of the top up and coming coaches in the region," says Shumaker. "He's already made some significant headway with his roster, proving he's ready for the job. He will not only have our full resources, but in addition he's got a great mentor to lean on in veteran Women's coach Sammy Lane."
Carranza shares Shumaker's enthusiasm towards the future of Women's soccer in Wichita and is quick to show his appreciation to the individual autonomy he's been granted as a coach. "The club has been great to me. I was hired a few years ago just out of college and immediately found that I was given the freedom to be my own personality. It's great to be in a position where leadership believes in you so much. I'm grateful for the opportunities and independence that has been afforded to me in Wichita."
Tryouts will be held in two rounds. Round one will be for players who are not currently in a college season. That tryout is scheduled for February 27th & 28th. The second tryout will be held in May for players who are coming out of a college season. Specific times and location will be announced next week.
The first tryout will identify players for both the UWS League 1 team & UWS League 2 reserve team.