Omar Ismail

As the Academy Boys MLS NEXT Director Omar supports boys Academy players, families, and coaches to build an academy environment that is positive, challenging, and inspires our boys to reach their full potential to achieve their goals. As part of this role he coaches the U19 and U16 MLSNext HG teams, as well as heading college recruitment and working with Academy staff to align training and game day standards across our MLSNext platform.

Most recently Omar served as the Associate Boys Academy Director at Arlington for over five years where I had the privilege of learning from some of the most respected coaches in the region. In addition to coaching several nationally competitive teams within the ECNL pathway and helping move talented players on to professional academies, he led the club's college placement efforts and helped facilitate more than 40 collegiate commitments across the last three graduating classes. Prior to Arlington, he started his coaching journey as the Technical Director at Sterling Soccer Club.

As a player, Omar grew up in Northern Virginia and progressed through the local youth ranks, eventually joining the D.C. United Academy and the ODP National Pool. He went on to play collegiately while earning a degree in Business Administration. Following college, he had opportunities to play abroad in Egypt, Australia, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Experiencing vastly different footballing cultures at both the professional and semi-pro levels broadened his perspective of the beautiful game and continues to influence the way he approach player development today.