Meet Our Coaching Staff

MJ Ball

MJ Ball is the Director of Coaching for River City Athletics, the former Assistant Director of Coaching for SoccerMaine, Executive Director and founder of Fields4kids, and the Girls Varsity soccer coach for Hermon High School.  He has a USSF “B” License and is a US Soccer National Instructor. He recently became the second coach in Maine to receive the Grassroots National Instructors License through US Soccer.  He has the rare distinction of being named Coach of the Year at the Club, Middle School, High School and College level.  In 2020, Coach Ball was named High School Regional Coach of the Year as well as High School State Coach of the Year.  At Hermon High School his program has a record of 143-16-4 over a 10 year period with 8 Northern Maine Championship game and 4 State Championship appearances.

He has coached many teams during the past 25 years including; Head Coach for ODP teams in Maine and PA West; Founder and Director of Coaching/Head Coach for Blackbear United FC/ Seacoast United Blackbear, Pittsburgh Strikers, Penns Forest FC, Coldbrook Travel Soccer Club (formerly Bronco Travel)  and Hermon Middle School.  His teams have won 16 state titles to date. 

Previously, he was the assistant men’s soccer coach for two years at University of Maine and coached the men’s and women’s soccer teams at the University of Maine at Machias for four years (2000 – 2004).   Prior to his arrival in Maine he coached and taught at Seton La Salle High School in western Pennsylvania.  He was a four year starter and two year captain at Westminster College in Pennsylvania and received his Masters degree in education from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.

He resides in Hampden with his wife Heather and their two children Aidyn and Kelsey.

Anthony Bottie

 

Alex Caballero

Prior to his arrival at River City, Alex was the Head Boys JV Coach and Assistant Boys Varsity Coach at Orono High school. During his tenure, he helped lead Orono High School to multiple years as Eastern Maine Finalists and assisted in their journey to the Maine State Championship in 2015. He also helped steer the team to three PVC Championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Alex grew up in Old Town and attended Orono High School before graduating and heading to college at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. Alex grew up immersed in the game which provided a foundation for which he learned many valuable life lessons.

A local soccer player and a graduate of University of Maine at Fort Kent, Alex is an alumni of the UMFK men’s soccer team. Alex also played in Canada for Edmundston while attending college in Fort Kent from 2011 – 2015.

Alex works at Orono Middle School while finishing his Master’s Degree in Teaching in Science. He is also an assistant Coach for the Husson Men’s soccer team.  Alex resides in Bangor with his wife, Rylee and their newborn son, Leo Santiago. 

Damion Gordon

Coach Gordon joined our River City family just over 5 years ago, and has been a mainstay every since.  He is the current head coach of our U15 boys and U15 Girls team. He has coached several of our youth teams in the past, including as assistant head coach of the U14 boys, who won their category at a tournament in Rhode Island in 2017.

 

Gordon is also helping to improve other talents from the wider community with his position as head coach of the Bangor Travel program.

 

Coach Gordon also worked at the high school level as assistant and eventually, head coach of Hampden Academy’s JV and Varsity boys teams, before resigning in 2020.

 

Gordon, who is now a United States citizen, emigrated to the country in 2015, having played at the semi-pro level in his native Jamaica for more than 12 years.

 

Coach Gordon has dedicated himself to making our players the best they can be, and from all indication, will be apart of the River City family for a long time to come.

 

Wayne Harvey

Wayne is the President and one of the founders of River City and has been coaching youth soccer since 2009.  He has coached at the rec, travel and premier levels with Bangor Parks and Rec and Bangor Soccer Club.  He has coached a girls fall travel team with Bangor Soccer Club since 2011.  He has also coached teams in the SoccerMaine Pine Tree League and in the Maine State Premier League and State Cup.

Wayne has his USSF “E” license and is taking the next “D” level course.  Wayne graduated with a degree in Mass Communications from the University of Maine.  Wayne lives in Bangor with his wife Courtney and their three daughters and their Catahoula Leopard Dog, Riggins.

“Wayne’s coaching philosophy is defense comes first, offensively he places an emphasis on passing, possession and team work.” 

Emi Higgins

Tyler Muzzy

Paxton Oversmith

 

Jaime Pangburn

Jaime was an All State soccer player for several years in high school and then joined the men’s team at Eastern Maine Community College.   She has enjoyed coaching boys and girls teams at the rec, and travel levels for both Bangor and Brewer Soccer clubs.   She has coached a girls fall travel team with Brewer Soccer Club since 2015.

Jaime has a bachelors of science in sonography from Thomas Jefferson University and currently works at Bangor OB/Gyn – Women’s Ultrasound of Maine.  Jaime holds a USSF Class “E” license.

Jaime lives in Eddington with her husband Jason and their three children, Jon, Jacki and Josh.

Gavin Penny

A graduate of Nyack College, Penny was a four-year starter and played a key role in both Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference championship-winning teams in 2010 and 2012, as well as helping the men’s soccer program earn their first NCAA DII National Championship bid in the school’s history.

Penny is a native of London, England, where he grew up playing at many levels. The highlight of his playing career was playing semi-professionally during his teen years. In 2007, Penny made the move to the US to begin coaching for the New York Red Bulls Training programs. He then moved on to become the head coach for two Super-Y League teams at the Ocean City Barons. His spell as a coach was put on hold following his time there to take the opportunity to play at Nyack College. During his time at Nyack, Penny became a man of God who has been involved in several mission trips & community service projects. In May 2012, Penny graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

Penny is currently a holder of the NSCAA Premier License & NSCAA Goalkeeping Level 2 Diplomas. He also holds an FA Coaching License, as well as a USSF Coaching License.

Penny’s leadership on the field has smoothly transitioned into a coaching role where he hopes to continue learning from his peers and develop his coaching accolades. Penny is also a CPA having most recently worked as a Tax Specialist at Berry Dunn, and an Audit Senior Assistant for Deloitte & Touche.

He and his wife Monique, currently resides in Brewer, Maine with their daugther Althea, and sons Nicolo and Felix.

Read more about Coach Penny

Ben Poland

Coach Ben Poland is entering his third year coaching for River City where he coaches the U12 boys.  This past fall he completed his sixth year as the Boys Varsity Soccer coach at Brewer High School. Coach Poland is entering his 17th overall season as a soccer coach.

Prior to being hired at Brewer High in the fall of 2012, Coach Poland was the boys JV coach at Orono High School for 2 seasons (2010-2011) and the girls varsity soccer coach at Hermon High School for 3 seasons (2007-2009). He was the boys JV coach at Hermon for 5 seasons before being named girls varsity coach at his alma-mater in Hermon. Coach Poland was also a track & field coach at Hermon High School for 9 seasons.

Coach Poland graduated from Hermon High School in 1998 and played two years of soccer at Husson University before sustaining two knee injuries and transferring to the University of Maine. At Husson, Poland was a member of the Maine Athletic Conference championship teams in 1998 and 1999, advancing both seasons to regional postseason playoff berths.

For a full-time occupation, Coach Poland serves with the Maine Air National Guard based out of Bangor. He has served in the Maine ANG since January 1999.

Coach Poland currently holds his USSF “E” soccer coaches license and also coaches for the Brewer Soccer Club.  In addition to coaching, Coach Poland serves as a board member for the Brewer Soccer Club and as the Vice President for River City Athletics.   

Poland resides in Levant with his wife Jessica and his children, Liam, Alexis, and Tenley

Ben Sidaway

Ben is originally from England where he played soccer for Loughborough University and representative soccer. He coached in England and holds an English Football Association Prelim coaching badge and USSF “E” license.

Ben’s undergraduate education was in Sport Science and Physical Education at Loughborough University he also has an MA and a PhD from UNC and Penn State. In addition Ben has a PT degree and is currently a Professor of Physical Therapy at Husson University where he is the Director of the Kenduskeag Institute’s Human Performance Research Lab and the Director of Dahl Anatomy Lab. Ben has coached in North Carolina, Louisiana and for Brewer travel teams. 

Sean Tardif

Phil Turmelle

Tim Tweedie

Tyler Welch