On December 12th of last year, Jim Curtin embarked on a new journey in his coaching career. He became one of several MLS coaches to take part in the inaugural Pro Pilot course created by U.S. Soccer. Once he finishes the course, he will be eligible for a Pro License.

The Pro License was created by U.S. Soccer in efforts to educate candidates in becoming more competent and successful in executing tasks as a professional coach. It is the highest level of coaching licenses in America.

The course consists of small group meetings of coaches and advisors, webinars, and club visits. Wim Van Zwam, the coach instructor for U.S. Soccer, makes these club visits personally and travels around the country checking in with the candidates. He made his second of two visits with Curtin during the week of August 29th.

At the time the Union were coming off a 2-0 victory against Sporting Kansas City at home and were looking to build off that momentum as they traveled to Chicago that weekend. Van Zwam was with the Union for an entire week and observed how Curtin and the coaching staff reviewed the previous match, created a game plan for Chicago, and how they implemented it throughout the week.

Van Zwam also accompanied the team to Chicago and observed how the team executed the plan and watched to see how they would adjust accordingly throughout the match. Van Zwam’s visit was a part of Curtin’s learning process, and the two spoke after the match to go over Van Zwam’s observations.

By participating in the course, Curtin is receiving world-class observations that will only push his coaching technique to new heights. Van Zwam has said that Curtin has really responded well to the course throughout the last several months and is applying great techniques.

A year's worth of work will come to an end this December when the course finishes up. All of the meetings, webinars, discussions Curtin has had over the last 12 months will culminate this December when he makes his final presentation. If things go accordingly, then he will be the proud owner of a Pro License - until then Curtin continues to work.