Board of directors

Cameron Smith, President

Spencer Johnston, Vice President

Cameron brings a fresh energy and perspective to the board. Bringing his business acumen and management experience he is well placed in a perfect position to help advance CASA's strategic goals over the upcoming years. Cameron has been a resident of North Port since 2009 and has been involved in the league since 2018. Growing up in Kentucky, Cameron played competitive soccer for the majority of his life. Obtaining his M.B.A for USF in 2018, Cameron is looking to bring new ideas to the organization to help our soccer community and impact on youth soccer in the area grow.

president@npcasa.onmicrosoft.com

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Spencer Johnston, Vice President

Spencer moved to Florida from New York in 2018. Since 2018 Spencer has now grown his own family as he is now married and has two children.
Spencer has had experience playing 4 years of college soccer at SUNY Potsdam and Hudson Valley CC; Coaching with Ichabod Crane JV Soccer, Selections for ODP teams, And years of play in local leagues and tournaments from Maryland to Massachusetts.
Spencer looks forward to providing fresh insights to provide a sustainable and long lasting structure to allow for the sport of soccer to grow in the local community.

vicepresident@npcasa.onmicrosoft.com

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Joe Finocchiaro, Treasurer

Spencer Johnston, Vice President

Joe Finocchiaro, Treasurer

Joe brings his Bachelors of Science in Finance from USF and background in financial planning to the Conquistadors to ensure a fairly priced quality experience for our divisions and to continue our mission of ingraining soccer deeper into the communitie's DNA. Joe has been involved in the local soccer community since he was four years old. His father Sebastian has been a pillar in the area's soccer community for years. Joe is committed to making a difference to help our organization to hit new heights.

treasurer@npcasa.onmicrosoft.com

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EJ Blunt, Sporting Dir.

Spencer Johnston, Vice President

Joe Finocchiaro, Treasurer

We are thrilled to welcome EJ to our board, bringing a wealth of expertise and a proven track record in product management, business analysis, and technology-focused roles. EJ is a distinguished M.B.A. graduate and a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO).

He has been a part of our league for a few years, and has served on other sports leagu

He has been a part of our league for a few years, and has served on other sports leagues boards.

EJ's diverse experience and commitment to excellence make EJ an invaluable asset to our soccer board of directors, where EJ will undoubtedly contribute to the continued success and growth of our organization.

sportingdir@npcasa.onmicrosoft.com

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Alecia Gerra, Secretary

Alecia brings diverse work experience to the board. With a solid educational foundation, including an Associates of Applied Science Degree, Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Pharmacy Technology.

Her professional experience ranges from retail sales to rehab aquatic therapy. In addition to her technical skills, Alecia brings a range of p

Alecia brings diverse work experience to the board. With a solid educational foundation, including an Associates of Applied Science Degree, Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Pharmacy Technology.

Her professional experience ranges from retail sales to rehab aquatic therapy. In addition to her technical skills, Alecia brings a range of personal attributes such as adaptability, self-initiative, respectfulness, and a commitment to health promotion and motivation.

Overall, Alecia’s combination of education, work experience, technical proficiency, and personal attributes make her an excellent fit for the secretary role on our board, bringing a unique perspective and valuable contributions to the team.

seceratry@npcasa.onmicrosoft.com

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History

The Conquistador Adult Soccer Association (CASA) began as a grassroots soccer league in September 2016 under the Fusion Adult Soccer League (FASL) name. We began with six coed 8 v 8 teams to fill a void for local adult sports within our area. We officially renamed as CASA and gained 501(c)(3) organization status in April 2017. In 2017 we also achieved Florida Adult Soccer Association (FASA) affiliation to ensure our participants had medical coverage and access to statewide tournaments. We grew, in under two years, to two soccer divisions with 16 teams.

After the success of the first seasons, our early board members understood that there were few adult sport options in the area, and we strategically aligned our efforts with the needs of our local youth soccer programs to enable a long-term goal of engraining soccer into the backbone of the surrounding area to both grow our league and to become advocates for the youth program’s successes as well. From an ever-increasing number of divisions within our organization to novice friendly training and equipment supplying, our services address many of the barriers to learning and participating in any of the adult roles within the sport (coach, referee, and player) that are needed to provide better support to our youth programs.

While creating a safe place to play the world’s beautiful game remains central to our efforts– supporting the training of coaches, referees, and players – is increasingly a strategic focus for us. We intend to help increase the population of experienced coaches for the local youth programs by helping our players gain their coaching license. To facilitate a larger soccer population in the area, we will help people obtain referee badges so that the game can be played in a safe and regulated manner. We also want to remove barriers for novices to learn the sport as well by teaching the basics for technical proficiency with the ball, as well as the foundations to understand how to play on a team so that novices can join our recreational teams.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, with individuals around the world becoming isolated, we see soccer as a universal language that can bring individuals into a growing community. We intend to expand to include an indoor (futsal) division during the summer, a women’s division, and over 30+ divisions in addition to more novice friendly training nights and locations to make it easier for anyone to learn the game so that they can transition to a recreational division.

Our ultimate goal is for generational increases in quality for our soccer community, wherein youth players are coached by experienced adult soccer players, creating a generational feedback loop that improves the level of soccer.

Milestones:

2016: First season

2017: Non-profit status granted, Florida Adult Soccer Association (FASA) affiliation status granted

2018: Second soccer division opened (Recreational)

2022: First season back after pause for Covid-19

2024: First novice friendly training session

Current Directions

Shifting from regular seasons with playoffs, to regular seasons and separate tournaments. Expanding our tournaments to include fellow FASA leagues from around the state.

Future Directions

Addition of novice friendly training sessions to teach technical proficiency and explanations of how to play on a team
Indoor futsal divisions
Over 30, 40, 50 divisions
Women’s division
Coaching license sponsorships
Referee certification sponsorships
Indoor sporting facility