Island F.C. hires former Red Bulls player Felipe Martins as coach of youth teams
Former Red Bulls soccer player Felipe Martins during an MLS game against the Montreal Impact at the Olympic Stadium on March 12, 2016 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Credit: Getty Images/Minas Panagiotakis
The Island F.C. — the new professional soccer team coming to Long Island in 2027 — made a pair of significant moves Friday to bolster their youth development pipeline across the Island.
On Friday morning, they announced the hire of Brazilian Felipe Martins, 35 — a former midfielder who has over a decade of Major League Soccer playing experience, including 100 games for the Red Bulls — as the head coach for the club’s U19 and U17 MLS Next Homegrown Division teams in Suffolk County and their head of player development. The Homegrown Division — which features 152 clubs that play a 10-month, pro-style regular season — is the first of two tiers in MLS Next, MLS’ elite youth development platform for top male players in North America that includes a pathway to professional soccer.
On Friday afternoon, The Island F.C. announced the anticipated plan for their girls soccer development program: the Long Island Soccer Club’s (LISC) Girls Academy (first tier) and ASPIRE (second tier) memberships will be rebranded and operated under The Island F.C. The move follows what the club did on the boys side in March, announcing a partnership with the LISC to assume operations of their MLS Next divisions in Nassau County.
“I'm proud to take on the role of Head Coach and begin this journey with a clear vision of building a strong identity from day one,” Martins said in a statement. “My approach is centered on competing to win while playing the game the right way, with purpose, intelligence, and a true understanding of the ball. I believe in developing players not just as athletes, but as thinkers and competitors in a structured, intentional environment.”
On the news of the girls’ program, The Island F.C. youth director Miquel Gasparin Ferrando said in a statement: “This alignment allows us to bring greater consistency, accountability, and long-term vision to the girls pathway. By establishing a connected West-to-East structure under one professional club, we can better support player development, coaching standards, and progression for female athletes across the entire Island.”
The Island F.C. is an independent club that will debut in March 2027 in MLS Next Pro, the professional development league of MLS. The team was launched in October by principal owner and chairman Mitchell Rechler and team president Peter Zaratin.
In addition to the club’s MLS Next Homegrown boys teams, it also will have boys teams in the second-tier MLS Next Academy Division, which features approximately 230 clubs. MLS Next Academy Division teams play a schedule built around the high school calendar so players also can play for their school teams. There will be teams in each of the two tiers in Suffolk (under The Island F.C. East name) and Nassau (under The Island F.C. West).
While MLS Next only applies to boys soccer, the equivalent top-tier, national level for girls soccer is the Girls Academy League. The Island F.C. will have one Girls Academy team based in a to-be-determined central Long Island location. ASPIRE is designed as a second-tier league, similar to the MLS Next Academy Division. The Island F.C. will have two ASPIRE programs: ASPIRE East in Suffolk and ASPIRE West in Nassau.
In December, after he was hired, Gasparin Ferrando said: “For the first time, I think we have the opportunity to unify soccer in Long Island, which I think is huge.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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