Over nearly 20 years as Lexington United Soccer Club’s first and only director of coaching, Brendan Donahue has forged an identity nearly synonymous with the Lexington soccer community.
The 52-year-old’s intimate familiarity with the town, its families and its fields is unrivaled. The one, somewhat humorous catch? Donahue doesn’t even live in Lexington.
“Having made a lot of friends and coached so many people over the years, I think my connection to Lexington is probably stronger than it is in Easton where I live because I’ve spent so much time with different families,” said Donahue, who commutes 45 minutes each way between five and six days a week. “It’s a pretty deep connection.”
Donahue grew up in Easton and went to Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury. He played collegiately and studied history at Middlebury College. His coaching journey began in 1994 as the head coach of the men’s “B” team at his alma mater. Over the next decade, he served as an assistant for the Division III varsity teams at Tufts University, Vassar College and head coach at Curry College, and then to the Division I ranks as an assistant, and later acting head coach, of Northeastern University.
In the fall of 2005, Donahue worked with the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Instructional staff, running clinics and teaching courses throughout the state. At the suggestion of a connection, Donahue applied for the role and accepted after a few interviews and on-field coaching practice sessions.
Lexington United Soccer Club’s (LUSC) first and only director of coaching, Donahue started his post on January 1, 2006. He’s also the director of the Lexington Player Development Academy since 2008 and has been involved in the Massachusetts Olympic Development program since 2015. But for nearly two decades, it’s Donahue who built up the non-profit LUSC into a community staple.
“As far as I’m concerned he’s a part of this town,” said John Andrews, LUSC’s president from 2020-23. “One of the best decisions the town’s made was bringing in a professional coach, and we just got very lucky with bringing Brendan in.”
Tim Carruthers, former president of LUSC, served on the original hiring committee that selected Donahue. At that time, Carruthers noticed a handful of families opting to travel long distances for higher level club training. They decided to hire a director of coaching to reach those, and all, local families.
“We saw this as a real opportunity, no pun intended, to up our game,” Carruthers said. “We knew [Donahue] was going to be good because he had a great attitude and persona. He rolled his sleeves up and dove right in.”
The only full-time employee of LUSC, the club maintains a handful of contract employees under Donahue’s watch. Most of the help comes from over 280 volunteers, mostly parent coaches. Nearly 1,300 town families participate in the program each year. Financial assistance is available for families who need it through a voucher program. LUSC uses fields across the town, primarily Lincoln Park, Center Recreation Complex, Diamond Field, the town’s elementary schools and Lexington Christian Academy.
LUSC offers more than 25 unique soccer programs for children of all abilities, from recreation to travel to premier, in Pre-K to 12th grade. Approximately 1,400 kids play each fall and spring season, and throughout the year, LUSC had more than 3,300 unique registrations. Donahue and team organize in-town leagues for younger kids and travel teams for third grade and up. The program also provides dedicated weekend, winter and school vacation clinics. A youth mentorship program pairs high school students with younger teams, and anyone ages 13 and up can become a paid referee.
One major tenet for Donahue and the club: develop people, not players, by improving the player but not at the expense of the person.
“Soccer is the vehicle, and I think we have a responsibility to teach life skills through the game,” Donahue said. “We want to make sure players develop at the level they want to get to, so if there’s somebody who’s really ambitious we put them on that path, but if it’s somebody who just enjoys playing, to make sure there is a spot for them as well.”
For Hagop Kouchakdjian, that brought him back. The captain of the 2016 Lexington High School team that captured the Division 1 MIAA State Championship, Kouchakdjian played for and now coaches with Donahue.
“I almost felt like I had to repay my debts to Brendan because of how influential he was as a coach growing up,”Kouchakdjian said. “He demands a lot from his players and makes them play the right way.”
Tom Shiple, former LUSC president, board member and father of three former players, likes to tell the story of an interaction at a neighborhood party a few years ago. Someone introduced him as LUSC’s president, and to that, someone responded, “Then what is Brendan?”
“Nobody knows who the president of the club is, but everyone knows Brendan,” Shiple said. “He has a really good perspective in this day in age … where it’s all about the kids and making sure they have a good, healthy experience.”
The club’s 15 board members serve three-year terms, consistently providing a new perspective for Donahue and the club’s strategy. For example, Lexington’s elementary schools used to do Thursday, and now Friday, half days. Now, they offer a 1-3 p.m. Friday session for younger players.
“One of the things for me is I always want to be getting better. You learn a lot from the different people that come and go and it’s been a great way for me to grow as a person.”
Seeing former players at the first annual girls alumni game the Saturday after Thanksgiving brought a smile to Donahue’s face.
Three of those were the Fiore sisters, Jenny, Kristen and Catherine, the first two of whom played for Donahue and LUSC.
Jenny Fiore, a 2020 Lexington High School graduate, first found out about Donahue through her older sister, Kristen, a 2013 LHS graduate, who also played under Donahue. Now a senior at Lehigh University studying civil engineering and architecture, Jenny Fiore takes the relentlessly positive leadership style she learned from Donahue into her role as captain of the school’s ultimate frisbee team.
“Whether it be constructive criticism, always spinning it to find a way where you can improve and having the highest confidence in your players is something I learned from him,” she said “He was able to give me a lot of confidence by communicating with me about how I could get better.”
Kristen Fiore, who played collegiately at Haverford, played for Donahue while he built the LUSC program from the ground up and for the Lexington High School team her senior year, the one year he coached the team.
“He’s calm but firm, and it’s incredible because it works for every age group,” Kristen Fiore said. “He’s the type of guy to make everyone feel valued.”
He’s going nowhere anytime soon.
“I’m pretty fortunate to have a full-time job in something I started doing when I was seven years old,” Donahue said. “It’s been an awesome job. It’s a great community.”