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Luka Milicevic Joins FC Wichita's Technical Staff

By Staff, 05/27/22, 12:30PM CDT

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Luka Milicevic has joined the FC Wichita Technical Staff in all phases of the club from youth to senior teams, and...

WICHITA, Ks - FC Wichita is pleased to announce the hiring of Luka Milicevic, a Belgrade, Serbia native.

Milicevic played soccer at Oklahoma Wesleyan from 2013-2017. After graduting from OKWU with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Milicevic joined the Eagles staff as a Graduate Assistant. He spent three seasons as a coach in Bartlesville where he helped the team to a 63-8-3 record while reaching the National Championship game in 2020.

In the fall of 2021, Milicevic moved up the ranks to become an Assistant Coach at NCAA DII Rogers State University on the women's side. The Hillcats went 9-8-1 in the single season that Milicevic spent in Claremore before accepting the men's Head Coaching position at Bethel College this spring.

Luka has been very involved with club soccer in Oklahoma during his time in the United States, already earning a youth USSF "C" License and currently waiting on approval for his application towards the "B" License.

FC Wichita, who had recently made a push to overhaul the thought process in it's youngest age groups, is excited to add staff with additional experience as high level players and coaches. During this process former U4-U8 Director Kyle Eno will part ways with FC Wichita, and Luka becomes the first of seven new staff announcements ahead of the 2022-2023 season.  

"A few months ago we decided to make a change in the early education years for our members", said FC Wichita President Blake Shumaker. "Our directors knew we needed to make a different investment and that meant placing some of our top coaches in the youngest ages. This hire makes sense because Luka will be joining us and immersed at all levels of the club, from the USL men's and UWS women’s team to being tasked with developing both players and coaches at the entry ages. Player needs tend to be overlooked in big clubs at the age of 4-8 years old, but the truth is these are among the most important years for them and these kids are getting an opportunity to start with the best.”

FC Wichita believes they needed to take a new direction with the belief that the best results do not come from players winning and losing at those ages. The results the club wants to consider are based on individual technique and confidence earned from repetition and making mistakes in the process. Instead of focusing on winning, shooting and positioning at early ages, Milicevic will be tasked with identifying college players and future coaches who can find entry level positions within the club and learn how to inspire these young players through a skills centered approach, raising a generation of efficient risk takers. The curriculum is based on encouraging players to learn technical skill moves and dribbling to beat opponents. Players will be encouraged to try and eventually execute the moves in game situations. Players exceeding expectations in these ages will be placed into an elevated training with like players to make sure they are advanced to meet their current level of development.

"I am excited about all of it", says Milicevic. " I was told by professional players and college coaches that when I get to Wichita where you'd want to be is FC Wichita. I looked into it and ended up knowing many of the staff members as well so I couldn't be happier to be in a player centered setting with great coaches. We are ready to meet and identify the coaches who can execute on our developmental plan and help elevate the game at FC Wichita."