Meet Our Coaches

Stephanie Buquoi

Coach Steph is in her fourth season as the UFA Mountains Future Academy Coach.  She was with UFA Forsyth and Mountains for six seasons prior, coaching her daughter’s recreational team.  Her son is currently a Mountains Academy Player and has been a part of UFA for seven years.  In Florida, she coached girls academy and athena teams ranging from U10-U18.  Coach Steph also led a girls middle school soccer team in Texas.  

Coach Steph grew up in Marietta and has played soccer since the age of five.  At the age of 10, she joined the Atlanta Hot Shots, her athena team, which she played competitively until graduating high school.   Her team won many tournaments in a variety of states, and in 2000 became Georgia state champs and went on to regionals in Texas.  She was a four year varsity letterman winner from Walton High School.  She was captain and Most Valuable Defender for the Raiders.  Coach Steph participated in the Olympic Development Program for the state of Georgia in 1999-2000 and was captain of her soccer team during the Maccabi Games at the age of 15.  

In 2000, Coach Steph went on to play for the Georgia Southern Eagles.  There she was a defender and made lifelong friends with her teammates.  She transferred to Rollins College in 2002, where she was captain of the Tars, named to the All-Conference Second Team, and was the Most Valuable Defender for the Tars.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and began her teaching career in Orlando.  

Coach Steph currently teaches elementary school in Forsyth County.  She has an awesome husband Shelby, her soccer loving son Carter, and her horse-back riding daughter, Burkleigh.  Aside from her passion for soccer, Steph loves to run, play tennis, rollerblade, and enjoys spending time outside.  

Joe Paul grew up all over the southeast before his family settled in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He began coaching his daughters’ soccer teams with UFA Mountains in Dahlonega in 2022. Joe became a UFA Location Coordinator for Lumpkin County in Fall of 2023. 

Joe is a career educator and high school tennis coach in Gwinnett County, Georgia, where he previously served as a teacher, and is now an Instructional Technology and Innovation Coach. He holds degrees from the University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University, and the University of West Georgia. 

Joe lives in Dahlonega with his wife, Mallory, and three daughters: Amelia, Violet, and Lily. He enjoys cooking and fishing in his free time, as well as watching UGA football and European soccer. He currently holds a Grassroots Coaching License with US Soccer, and plans to build upon this in the future.

Patrice Parris has been with UFA for 10 years. Parris was the Head Coach of the men's soccer program at the University of North Georgia for 16 years. Parris came to the University of North Georgia from Georgia Southern University, where he was a four-year letter winner for the Eagles from 1994-97, joining the Statesboro (Ga.) High coaching staff after concluding his career at Georgia Southern. In 1999, Parris was called up to train with the Jamaican (Reggae Boys) National Team. 

Parris spent three years at Statesboro, helping the Blue Devils win back-to-back region championships. After that, he joined the Georgia Southern coaching staff for seven years, where he served in that capacity until accepting the University of North Georgia's Head Coaching position. 

During his collegiate career, Parris played in 75 games at forward, marking back, and outside-midfield. Parris's high school days were spent at Bradwell Institute (Hinesville, Ga.), where he was a four-year letter winner. In 1993 he was named the team's Best Offensive Player, only to better that his senior season when he was voted the Coastal Empire Most Valuable Player and Bradwell's Best Offensive Player.

Parris graduated from Georgia Southern in 1999 with a Bachelor's degree in sport management and received his Master's in sports management from Georgia Southern.  Patrice Parris recently graduated from Valdosta State University with a Doctorate in Higher Education-Leadership. Parris holdsa United Soccer Coaches Premier License.

Throughout his 16 years at the helm of the men's soccer program, Parris led North Georgia to new heights, having achieved a national top 25 ranking for the first time in program history.

Mike Povenz is in his 10^th year of coaching with UFA. He started coaching rec soccer out of Matt Park in Forsyth County and is now coaching at the Academy at Rock Creek Park in Dawsonville. In the Fall 2020 season, he built a U12 girls Academy team that placed first in their first end-of-season tournament. His teams went to SCCL Champions League and have now been promoted to SAPL.

Mike grew up in Cobb county, playing at the select level for many years. He was selected, at age fourteen, to play on a travel team headed to Europe in the summer of 1993. His experiences in Denmark and Sweden accelerated his gameplay and soccer education. He played Varsity soccer at Lassiter High School and made the leader board for goals and assists. In 1994 he was part of a hand-picked developmental team coached by the USISL Pro League Atlanta Magic team. Upon completing high school, Mike was accepted as a midfielder for Georgia Southern University a D1 program. His Junior year, as a starting midfielder, his team went on to win the Southern Conference.

Mike is married to Brandy Povenz. They have 3 children, 3 dogs, 4 chickens, 2 Guinea pigs, and 1 psychotic fish. He loves the outdoors, cooking in cast iron, Atlanta United, and to travel.

Mike is currently pursuing his D License.

Sarah Black is a native of North Georgia and lives in Cleveland, Ga with her husband and 2 daughters. 

She started playing soccer at the age of 4 throughout the North Georgia area competing in recreation, academy, and futsal thru college. 

Sarah began coaching in the fall of 2020 as a recreational coach in White County where she found new passion in passing down enjoyment and developmental skills to youth. Her philosophy has emphasis on individual and team development in skills on and off field. 

She began coaching education pursue higher level coaching and received USSF Level D in 2024. She plans to continue her coaching education to continue developing as a coach.

Sean Clifford has been with UFA since 2012. He spent his first six years coaching various Rec age groups, running Summer camps, and working as the Location Coordinator at Rock Creek Park for two seasons. He has been coaching at the Academy/Select level since 2019.

Clifford was born in Burlington, VT, and his love of soccer was passed down from his father, who grew up in Germany. An active child, he also enjoyed hockey, baseball, lacrosse, and skiing. He left Vermont to attend boarding school at the Holderness School in New Hampshire, where he lettered in four sports, and in his senior year earned All-Lakes Region first team honors for soccer and lacrosse. Clifford received his BA in English from Union College (NY), where he continued to play soccer and lacrosse. He played three years at defense and striker for the Dutchmen, starting as a freshman, but his focus shifted to lacrosse his senior year, as he earned the team MVP award and All-Liberty League team honors. He stayed on with his soccer team his senior year as the strength and conditioning coach.

Clifford’s goals as a coach are to compete at the highest level possible while still maintaining the values of sportsmanship, hustle, and togetherness. He believes in a strong work ethic, high level of fitness, preparation, and the ability to compete with class. Win, lose, or draw, Coach Clifford is committed to getting the most out of his players, and giving the most to his players.

Sean moved to GA in 2005, and has three children: Madeline, Caden, and Colton.

Chris Cobb has been deeply involved in soccer from a young age, both as a player and a coach. He played soccer during his time at Greater Atlanta Christian and has since dedicated the past eight years to coaching at United Futbol Academy (UFA). Chris is passionate about nurturing young talent, focusing on each player's unique potential to help them achieve their best on the field.

Residing in Forsyth County with his wife, two daughters, and son, Chris balances his love for soccer with a career as a Marketing Coordinator. A true music enthusiast, he also enjoys recording music in his free time, adding a creative outlet to his busy life. Chris's dedication to both his professional and personal passions makes him a well-rounded and inspiring figure in the community.

Ryan French brings over a decade of coaching experience to the soccer field. His coaching journey commenced when his daughter took her first steps onto the field at the age of 6. With a lifelong passion for the sport, Ryan's involvement began at the age of five, competing competitively until the age of 22, instilling in him a deep-rooted connection to soccer.
 

Currently holding a Grassroots License and actively pursuing his National D License, Ryan remains dedicated to advancing his coaching education.

Throughout his coaching tenure, Ryan has had the privilege of mentoring players across a diverse range of age groups, spanning from U5 to U17.

For Ryan, success is not defined by victories on the scoreboard but by the tangible growth and development of each player and the team as a whole. His coaching philosophy revolves around cultivating a positive and supportive environment where players feel empowered to express themselves freely, unencumbered by the fear of failure.He firmly believes in the importance of embracing mistakes as an integral part of the learning process and emphasizes their role in player development. His ultimate goal is to cultivate an environment where every player can unlock their full potential within a nurturing and supportive framework.

At the core of Ryan's coaching principles are the values of sportsmanship, commitment, and hard work.  As an advocate for holistic player development, he emphasizes technical proficiency and offers individual and group training sessions to players seeking to refine their skills.

Beyond coaching, Ryan has dedicated over five years to serving as a trainer and an Age Group Coordinator for UFA, further solidifying his commitment to the soccer community.

Chris Portelli has been with UFA since 2015. He spent most of this time coaching various Rec age groups out of Matt Park in Forsyth County. During that time, he took several teams to academy level tournaments and the teams competed well. This led him to move to Rock Creek and he has been coaching at the Academy/Select level since 2022. Chris holds the US Grassroots 11 v 11 certificate.

Chris was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Middletown, NJ. Like most kids Chris played various sports, Baseball, Football, and Basketball throughout his childhood, but soccer was always his love. Upon graduating High School, Chris took his next chapter to Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. Chris Played for the Hawks all 4 years and played mostly at the wing position before finally settling in as a center back his Senior year. Chris received his bachelor’s in business from RWU, and continued his Education with a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. After college was no different, jumping into other sports, Running, cycling and Triathlon but also continued to play soccer after college for club and adult teams.

Chris’s goals as a coach are to have fun but also compete. The game is the best teacher and gives the players skills outside of sport. So, when his team loses, he teaches and pulls the lesson you gain from those defeats as well as reminds them to be humble in victory. His favorite quote for his players is “Hustle Beats Talent, when Talent Does not Hustle,” so stresses we will never get out hustled.

David Purdum, a licensed grassroots U.S. Soccer coach, is entering his seventh year and 12^th season with UFA Mountains. He has worked with ages ranging from U6 up to U12.

He believes in a fun-first philosophy and strives to create a player-centric environment on and off the pitch. He is a member of the Dawson County School mentoring program and has worked with children in a variety of roles for 20 years.

Off the pitch, he is a professional sports writer, currently with ESPN.

Coach Brandon Stewart is a 4 year veteran of UFA Mt, Dawsonville.   He will be coaching U11, u13 boys, and U19 Girls.  He has led multiple promotions, league titles, tournament finalists and champions.