Gary Stephenson has held various positions in Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer, including as a coaching education instructor, ODP staff coach and, assistant technical director and director of soccer development and performance. He was named Technical Director in September 2023.
As Technical Director, Stephenson is responsible for coordinating the coaching curriculum for ODP, coaching courses and the general education of coaches and personnel throughout the state association while regularly interacting with US Soccer and US Youth Soccer in curriculum discussions, programming and course delivery. Gary also serves as the primary point of contact for the Medical Advisory Committee, which works to provide best practices for clubs and organizations.
A native of Durham in northeast England, Stephenson holds a mechanical engineering degree from Nothumbria University in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and spent eight years working as a design engineer and structural analyst for Caterpillar. He started coaching men’s teams in 1994 and began his coaching journey in the United States in 2000. He was director of coaching for Upper Dublin SC and coached at Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals in the US Soccer Development Academy. He’s also served as a collegiate and high school coach at Holy Family University, Delaware Valley College, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, Upper Dublin High School and St. Basil High School.
He is currently the regional Olympic Development Program head coach for the 2010 boys and helps lead the East region in an advisory role. In 2017, he led the U17 Boys Eastern Pennsylvania ODP team to a US Youth Soccer ODP National Championship. He holds a US Soccer A license and is a certified coaching instructor.