Soccer in Two Harbors looks a bit different than it did a few years ago. The teams are full, the training has structure, and the program is growing in ways families can feel. The Two Harbors Soccer Club is closing its fall season with a sense of momentum that stretches beyond the final scores.
The Stormshore Rovers U12 boys and the Cliff Rock Racers U10 boys finished with strong records and visible growth, and the club’s public message reflected the pride felt across the program.
“Thank you to all the parents and families that supported the boys throughout the season,” the Two Harbors Soccer Club posted on social media. “You all helped make this season a tremendous success. Tons of thanks to our coaches and for all the hours you put in to develop our young players. But, most of all thank you lads for being such a great group of boys and for representing our club and community with such pride and passion.”
Behind that message is a program that has been reshaped over the past couple of years. The changes range from the youngest players learning how to pass to the high school boys rebuilding a team that had disappeared from the schedule. The work has been steady and deliberate, and it has been guided by the club’s technical director, Matt McCune, who stepped into the role last year.
His job, “in a nutshell,” he said, “is just developing a healthy culture as well as improving players and growing the club. I’ve been doing this kind of work for a while.”
McCune moved to the North Shore after years of visiting the area. He had been coming up for about fifteen years to run camps and academies, and he had built relationships with families long before he relocated. Originally from the Kansas City area, he said he had always felt drawn to the landscape.
“I would vacation along the North Shore and just loved the nature and the lake,” he said. “I always told myself if there was a chance to move up here, I would try it.”
Parents he had coached with encouraged him to take on the position when the opportunity became available at the Two Harbors Soccer Club, and he was one of the voices saying the club needed a technical director rather than a coaching director.
His philosophy begins with the youngest players. The micro program, which combines U6 and U8, is where he believes the foundation is built. This fall, about fifty children participated. For the first part of their season, he ran their training himself, keeping the sessions fast, playful, and rooted in fundamentals. He kept downtime low and engagement high, even when he had more than two dozen six-year-olds at once.
“They were with me for the first three weeks,” he said. “I would run their training and make sure that the training that they’re getting is sticking with our curriculum and philosophy.”
He split boys and girls because of the numbers.
“We have to separate the girls and the boys because there’s a lot of kids,” he said. “It’s hard for me to handle fifty for sure when they’re six-year-olds.”
He has enough experience with that age group to keep things moving. And, after those first weeks, parent volunteers took over, having watched how he structured the sessions.
“We just ran a six-week season,” he said. “They got six games out of the deal.”
Parents noticed the structure and the focus on fundamentals. Meghan Josephson has two children in the program. Her daughter is five and played in the U6/U8 group. Her son is in fourth grade and played on the U10 boys team.
She said her daughter warmed up to soccer over the course of the season and enjoyed playing with friends and learning the basics. Her son has been involved for several years, and she has seen changes in the program during that time.
“This year was very nicely structured with practices and games,” she said, adding that she sees the emphasis on development. “They’re definitely learning the fundamentals and how to actually play the game versus just running around, just kicking the ball. My son went from just running around to actually playing as a team.”
Her daughter’s learning curve was simpler but just as important.
“My daughter just learning the sport and what to do with it,” she said. “That we kick a ball towards the goal and pass with our partners.”
She described the season as positive for both children.
“I just think that it was very positive for them,” she said. “I’m sure they will be signing up again next season.”
Cassandra Cavallin has a similar vantage point. She has one child in the U6/U8 group and one in U10. Her younger child summed up the season in a few words.
“It was fun,” she said. “I liked practicing passing.”
For Cavallin, the organization and communication were central. She talked about how much it helped to know what to expect each week, especially with multiple children in different age groups.
“Matt does a super good job with communicating,” she said. “He’s always emailing everybody the schedules, what to expect, which has been really nice.”
She appreciated how he laid out expectations for coaches and parents, and she found that the weekly rhythm worked for her family.
“We usually have one practice a week, which is doable with our schedules,” she said. “The games are usually on Saturdays for the little teams.”
Her son had a chance to play with older kids during the summer, which helped him prepare for the fall.
“He got to play up on the older team for the fun summer league,” she said. “It helped him get to the next level and see what it was like. It was a jump, but it was fun to see the improvement.”
She described the season as the most enjoyable her family has had.
“I had fun with it this year,” she said. “My kids loved it. They plan to play next year already.”
When McCune arrived, teams were simply known by their age groups. He wanted something more distinctive, something that gave players a sense of belonging. He rebranded every team with names drawn from the landscape and from English football traditions.
“The U10 boys are the Cliff Rock Racers and the U12 boys are the Storm Shore Rovers,” he said. “The U10 girls are Lake Watch United, and the U12 girls are the Harbor Town Wanderers.”
Each of those teams had strong seasons. The Racers finished with an eight-game unbeaten streak. The Rovers placed fifth out of thirty-six teams. And the Wanderers won their playoff championship on Sept. 26th.
Every team was full. A sure sign of growth.
“We’re growing, and it’s good,” he said.
The senior division connects directly to the high school programs. The boys team restarted last year after a four-year absence. McCune coaches that team as well, guiding a young roster through a junior varsity schedule with an eye toward expanding into varsity next fall.
“Next year we’ll be full on varsity,” he said. “I’m pretty happy with where we’re going.”
The team remains young, with only a couple of seniors, but they are dedicated, and the future looks bright for the varsity squad.
He sees the girls program in a similar position.
“They have probably forty-some girls out,” he said. “They’ve been winning several games.”
McCune describes the club as a pipeline and spoke about the work as a multi-year effort. “I always tell people it is a three-year thing,” he said. “You have to stick with the plan to reach those goals. There are no shortcuts. There’s a lot of hard work.”
He has coached teams where practice attendance was low, and he sees something different in Two Harbors.
“People are willing to put in the effort,” he said. “It’s nice to see.”
Parents have noticed the shift in the culture. Josephson agreed with Cavallin that communication has improved and that the program feels like a good environment for families.
“Definitely the communication has been better overall than in years past,” she said. “We kind of know what to expect and how to help our children grow.”
She sees the broader impact on soccer in town. She went to school in Two Harbors and remembers the boys varsity team cycling through strong and weak periods.
“You could slowly watch it dwindle down, and then it would come back and then dwindle down again,” she said. “With the amount of kids that get involved and how excited they are, I think it’ll be a good program for quite a while.”
McCune credits parents and volunteers for much of the program’s success. He sees his role as connecting people with the skills the club needs.
“It takes a village,” he said. “The group of people are the ones that really need to make it run smoothly. Once somebody shows the capabilities or the know-how of something that the club needs, that’s my job. Can we piece them in there to make it work?”
He also sees the players themselves as central.
“Ultimately it’s always coming down to the players,” he said. “The trust they showed and the effort they put in.”
The soccer club will be doing some fundraising activities. They are in need of a shed at the soccer park, as McCune has been storing equipment in his car, which is “not very big,” he said. The club is also always looking for volunteer support.
“We always need people to help step up and coach,” he said. “People to step up and help volunteer.”
The fall season is heading to an end with full rosters, strong records, and visible growth from the youngest players to the high school level. Parents described it as organized and positive. The kids described it as fun. The technical director described it as the start of a three-year plan that is already showing results. The program is growing while the culture is strengthening.
And the future looks kickin’ for soccer on the North Shore.
For more information or to reach out to volunteer, visit twoharborssoccer.com or check out the Two Harbors Soccer Club Facebook page.
