SLUG: Semi-pro soccer team – Burlington United
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Semi-pro soccer team puts roots in Burlington
By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
A semi-pro men’s soccer team will be based in Burlington, though games will be in Guilford County.
Burlington United FC was formed as a member of the National Premier Soccer League.
“I was a little surprised the league accepted (us),” said team owner Nic Sturdifen, a Burlington resident. “I knew that there was a wonderful soccer culture. It’s a pretty cool situation.”
The team’s level will be on a fourth division in American soccer. The roster will be comprised of former professional players and college-aged players. Some college players will be placed with Burlington United for the summer.
The team was approved February 14. The season begins May 10 vs. visiting Greenville United and runs through early July. Burlington United home games will be held at MacPherson Stadium in Browns Summit. The team will train on turf fields at Burlington’s Springwood Park in an arrangement with the Burlington Recreation and Parks Department.
“We wanted to have a real pathway to the pros,” Sturdifen said.
He equates the team to a similar level to the Carolina Dynamo, which was a past tenant at MacPherson Stadium.
Other than game nights, “everything the team will do will be Burlington-based,” Sturdifen said, referring to youth camps and service projects.
The head coach is Diego Walsh, a former Major League Soccer player out of Southern Methodist University. Camden Brooks, who coaches boys’ and girls’ soccer teams at Western Alamance, is an assistant coach.
Brooks won’t be involved in some practice sessions while Western’s girls’ team completes its season.
“I don’t have to stop doing anything else,” Brooks said. “I’ll have to juggle it.”
Brooks, who has coached Western’s boys’ team to two state championships, said he has had other coaching opportunities. He likes the fit with Burlington United.
“It’s a high level,” Brooks said.
The initial roster has two players from Williams’ 2019 state championship team. They are Brennan Lagana and Jorge Alfaro-Lemus, who both played as seniors on Peace University’s 2024 USA South Conference championship team.
Burlington United’s advisory board includes Williams boys’ soccer coach Jeremy Krist, Western Alamance assistant football coach Brian Vaughn; Armando Camacho, who’s athletics director at Burlington’s GateCity Dream Center; Brian Denisar, chief executive officer with Bobbitt; and Ed Lesane, Steve Harrison and Yholima Vargas-Pedroza.
“I feel they are doing everything they can to keep local teams involved and really make this a great thing,” Vaughn said.
The team generally trains in mornings.
“That’s normal for a summer team,” Sturdifen said.
Sturdifen is former owner of the High Point Hushpuppies, a summer collegiate baseball team.
“This is more of a passion project,” he said. “I wanted to invest in the community I live in.”
Sturdifen, who has lived in Burlington since 2012 and is a former college football player at Averett, said ideally the team will have a home venue in Burlington. He said the field at Burlington Memorial Stadium on the Williams campus is too narrow for the NPSL.
