Quincy United Is Quietly Building a Global Soccer Pipeline From the 98848
Through Quincy United and J&S Futbol Club, local athletes are earning college scholarships, traveling internationally, and gaining opportunities most small-town kids never imagined possible.
Some stories sneak up on you because they do not look extraordinary at first glance. They look like kids at a soccer field. They look like families loading coolers into cars on a weekend. They look like coaches setting up cones, players running drills, and parents trying to figure out where the next tournament is.
Then you sit down with Coach Joseph James and realize something much bigger has been happening here in Quincy.
Quincy United and J&S Futbol Club are not just giving kids a place to play soccer. They are building a serious competitive program that has already helped local athletes win state championships, sign college scholarships, travel across the country, and now step into international opportunities with one of the biggest clubs in Mexico.
“A lot of people know me as Coach James from Quincy United,” James said. “But we were able to take kids from Quincy to Mexico City where they participated in a club trial with Club América, one of the biggest soccer clubs in Mexico.”
A few players even received callbacks.
That alone would be a major story. But for Coach James, the bigger part is what happens when kids from a small community like Quincy get to step outside the world they know and see what might actually be possible.
“The callbacks are cool,” he said. “But getting to see kids from Quincy, from this small community, leave our community and go to Mexico City… some went to Spain… they’ve been traveling all over the world with this game called soccer.”
TL;DR
Quincy United and J&S Futbol Club have grown into a serious competitive soccer program serving athletes from age 8 through U19 in Quincy and surrounding communities.
Coach Joseph James says local athletes recently traveled to Mexico City for trials with Club América, with some players receiving callbacks for future opportunities.
The broader J&S Futbol Academy network now serves roughly 1,500 players across Quincy, Mattawa, Othello, Moses Lake, and the Tri-Cities.
Quincy United has won six state championships and helped 32 athletes sign college scholarships.
Players are competing in showcase tournaments across Washington and around the western United States, including Portland, Las Vegas, California, and Denver.
The program emphasizes education and discipline alongside athletics, with James saying the club currently has a 100% high school graduation rate among its athletes.
Through partnerships and international connections, Quincy athletes now have pathways connected to Mexico, Spain, Holland, Canada, and higher-level competitive soccer opportunities.
James says the biggest impact is not just soccer success, but exposing local kids to bigger opportunities, travel, college pathways, and life experiences beyond the 98848.
This Is Not Rec Soccer
For people who have only seen soccer through the local rec league or school sports lens, it is important to understand the difference. Quincy United is not just a casual local soccer program. This is competitive club soccer.
Coach James said players are traveling across Washington and beyond for tournaments. Some teams are playing in Portland. Others have played in Las Vegas, California, and summer tournaments around the region. One group is heading to Denver, Colorado for nationals.
“This is not rec soccer,” James said. “This is competitive soccer.”
That difference matters because the soccer landscape has changed. College scouts are not always driving into small towns looking for players anymore. They are going to showcase tournaments where they can see dozens, or even hundreds, of teams in one place.
“If you really love the game and you’re not in these showcase tournaments, you’re more than likely not getting scouted,” Coach James said.
That is part of what Quincy United is trying to provide: a way for local athletes to get into the rooms, fields, tournaments, and opportunities where the next level is actually watching.
From Micro Soccer to Mexico City
Coach James has been coaching soccer in Quincy for almost sixteen years. Like a lot of community stories, this one started small. His nephew’s team needed a coach, and James stepped in.
“I started doing rec soccer because my nephew’s team didn’t have a coach,” he said. “I played it growing up, so I said sure.”
That decision slowly grew into something much larger. The teams became more competitive. The players improved. The program developed. Eventually, Quincy United became a base for athletes who wanted to train seriously and chase bigger opportunities.
Some of the players now moving through the program started with James when they were in Micro Soccer.
“That’s really crazy,” he said. “I’ve been the same coach they had their whole life.”
Now those same kids are training, traveling, competing, and in some cases being connected to pathways that can lead to college soccer, elite club programs, or international trials.
The Program Is Bigger Than Most People Know
Quincy United currently serves around 150 kids in Quincy. Coach James also serves another 50 in Mattawa. Through J&S Futbol Academy, the reach extends even farther, including Quincy, Mattawa, Othello, Moses Lake, and a group in the Tri-Cities.
Altogether, Coach James said the broader academy network serves around 1,500 players.
That number may surprise people who still think of this as a small local soccer club.
Coach James now does much of the operational work for the organization and spends a lot of his time developing coaches rather than coaching one team directly. He holds a National C coaching license, and other coaches in the program are pursuing additional training and certifications.
“These are coaches that really love the game and are learning the game,” he said.
The program has also produced results. Quincy United has won six state championships. Coach James has coached three of those. Other coaches in the organization have added to that total.
The club has also helped 32 athletes sign college scholarships.
For a community the size of Quincy, that is not a small number.
The College Pipeline Matters
The international opportunities are exciting, but Coach James kept coming back to the educational impact of the program. He said when players travel and see bigger opportunities, it changes how they think about school.
“They realize, ‘I can’t do all these things I want to do if my education isn’t right,’” Coach James said. “‘I can’t go play college ball if I don’t have that 3.0 or above.’”
That may be one of the most important pieces of this entire story. Soccer becomes the hook, but discipline becomes the result.
Coach James said the club has a 100 percent graduation rate among its high school athletes. That is the kind of number that should make the whole community pay attention.
“The biggest thing we’re most proud of as an organization, we have 100% graduation rate from our club kids at the high school,” he said.
Some former players have gone on to college. Some have gone to trade schools. Some have become electricians. Some are now teachers. One is heading toward medical school.
“They changed their lives,” Coach James said. “They changed their family’s lives.”
A Real Pipeline to Bigger Soccer
One of the biggest developments for the program is its partnership with Club América. Coach James said the local program now falls under the Club América “nest,” giving players access to a legitimate pathway connected to one of Mexico’s largest soccer clubs.
“Our whole program is going to be wearing Club América gear,” James said. “They’ll have a pipeline to Club América.”
He emphasized that this is not just branding or wishful thinking. Players from Quincy were actually in Mexico City, training in the same compound where academy players train and on fields connected to the professional club environment.
“This is a real pipeline,” James said. “This is not a game.”
For families and players, that means the long-term vision has changed. The goal does not have to stop at high school. It does not even have to stop at college. Some players are already scheduled to return for full trials. Others are preparing for extended opportunities in Spain.
From Quincy, Washington, that is an extraordinary sentence to write.
The Commitment Is Real Too
Coach James is also honest about what this level of soccer requires. Competitive club sports demand time, travel, money, and family sacrifice.
“There’s times we sacrifice Mother’s Day and Easter because we’re out there playing,” he said.
Families should not confuse this with a short rec season or a few local games. Club soccer can mean tournaments, hotel stays, gas, meals, uniforms, registration fees, and long weekends away from home.
Coach James said the club works hard to keep the cost as low as possible compared to similar programs in larger markets. Registration is $425 for the year, with uniforms separate at around $150. The club also breaks payments into installments to help families manage the cost.
“We’re trying to keep our costs as low as possible to maintain the ability for our kids to play,” he said.
That matters because one of the hard truths of youth sports in America is that opportunity often costs money. Coach James does not sugarcoat that, but he also makes it clear that Quincy United is trying to keep the door open for as many local players as possible.
What This Means to You
For parents, this means Quincy has a soccer opportunity here that is much more serious than many people may realize. If your child loves the game and wants to see how far they can go, there is a competitive pathway based right here in the community.
For local athletes, this means the ceiling may be higher than you think. College soccer, travel soccer, international training, and even professional dreams are not as far removed from Quincy as they used to feel.
For the community, this is a reminder that local programs matter. The coach who volunteers for a nephew’s team can end up building something that changes lives. The parents driving kids to tournaments are part of something bigger than a weekend game. The local players practicing on Quincy fields may one day be representing this town far beyond the 98848.
And for supporters, sponsors, and community leaders, this is the kind of program worth paying attention to. It is developing athletes, but it is also developing discipline, travel experience, academic motivation, and future adults who may bring those lessons back home.
More Than a Soccer Story
At one point in the conversation, Coach James said there might be a Quincy kid on TV one day.
After hearing the full story, that does not sound unrealistic anymore.
But even if that never happens, this program is already doing something important. It is helping kids see more of the world. It is helping them connect hard work to opportunity. It is helping them understand that grades matter, commitment matters, and discipline in one part of life can carry into every other part.
That is the real story here.
Quincy United and J&S Futbol Club are not just building better soccer players. They are helping local kids imagine a bigger world, then giving them a reason to work toward it.