ROCHESTER, N.Y. — In 3.42 square miles of land and with a population of approximately 8,770, the City of Bradford has limited opportunities to offer soccer players.
Bradford United Soccer Club and a perennially successful high school program offer ample playing opportunities, but without the resources that exist in urban and suburban areas, instruction can be limited.
Nevertheless, Bradford native Colton Bly, during his first 28 years of life, took advantage of all he could. Now, with his playing career behind him, Bly finds himself with a second chance at a professional career.
“When I was a kid, I played locally in every way for the Bradford United Soccer Club; I played for the Owls and tried to get involved in every local and recreational way,” Bly said.
GROWING UP in Derrick City, Bly grew to 6-feet-5-inches tall and 195 pounds and was a one-of-one type player. He had unique size, skills and leadership abilities that he demonstrated during his youth, high school and college years of soccer in Bradford.
A four-year player at center back for the Owls, Bly grew into a competent, solid player focused on the fundamentals; And it took him to the next local level. As a senior, Bly committed to attend Pitt-Bradford and play Division III soccer for the Panthers.
“Growing up in a community that values hard work and growing up in a family that put a premium on hard work and commitment and never giving up instilled values in me,” Bly said.
But feelings of disappointment still lingered after the commitment.
“I was a small town kid that kind of had big-time aspirations, but on the playing side of things, specifically up to my time playing for UPB, I was never on the national radar or got a chance to play at an elite or national level of youth soccer.”
During Bly’s first three seasons with the Panthers, injuries caught up with him. A sustained slipped disc in his lower back set Bly back and eventually put an end to his career ahead of his senior season.
Bly needed to find a new place in soccer, and the results came quickly. Bly’s former UPB head coach, Derek Panol, asked Bly ahead of his senior year to come on staff as a student coach, and the opportunity propelled him.
Bly threw himself into coaching and found a second life in soccer. And, six years later, he has certainly made the most of his chance.
In May of 2022, at 28 years old, the Flower City Union — a member of the third-tier U.S. soccer league the National Independent Soccer Association — named Bly the youngest head coach in American professional soccer.
In addition, Bly has become certified by the U.S. Soccer Federation in National licensing A-F and earned level one and two goalkeeping diplomas. Soon, Bly will finish course work and receive a full license for coaching under-18 year-olds, one of just a handful of coaches in the United States with full certification.
“Coach Derek had me get my U.S. soccer coaching licenses and I began to find it enjoyable even when I wasn’t playing anymore,” Bly said. “I just saw how many coaches loved what Derek was doing every day and it was inspiring for me to see. And that’s when I started pursuing that and putting my energy toward that.”
AS OF 2022, Bly — backed by his Bradford soccer education — has made waves in the coaching ranks, resetting the expectations for coaches under 30. However, the rise was not easy.
While walking the UPB sidelines as a senior, Bly started small as a travel coach for the Bradford United Soccer Club from 2014-17 and the head girls varsity soccer coach at Bradford Area High School in 2017.
Bly graduated from Pitt-Bradford in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education and a minor in athletic coaching. After graduating, Bly leaped outside of the Bradford area, a move he had avoided as a player.
“I really buckled down and started chasing coaching like it was a full-time profession after I graduated,” Bly said.
With a developing resume, Bly took over as Director of Coaching for B.C. United, a small soccer club in Beaver Falls on the brink of expansion.
Bly thrived in the Pittsburgh suburb, leading expansion from six to 13 club teams. Additionally, he earned a job as an assistant coach for the U13 girl’s team in the PA-West Olympic Development Soccer Program, a prestigious opportunity to coach some of the best players in the nation.
Bly’s work caught the eye of the Western New York Flash Youth Soccer Academy, one of the elite programs Bly fantasized about being a part of but never got to as a kid.
Bly took a pay cut to become an academy head coach and eventually worked up to the Boys Youth Director of Coaching with the Flash. But after three months, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and Bly left, returning to Beaver Falls part-time and balancing the founding of his own Twin Tiers Soccer Club.
After nine months with Twin Tiers, with the pandemic waning, professional soccer came calling.
With a resume built on player development in the small town of Bradford to working with the most elite talents in New York and Pittsburgh, the Union brought Bly on as a full-time assistant assigned to scouting potential players in October 2021.
And, by late April, Union coach Zach Agliata stepped down and Bly was thrust into the position of interim head coach. However, it was not a dream come true for Bly, because he never even considered coaching in one of the top three soccer leagues in the country a possibility.
“It’s nothing I ever thought could happen. Maybe it was always my long-term dream, and that was if I was lucky,” Bly said.
BLY’S TIME with Flower City Union has been brief, and a struggle on the field. The Union is 3-2-12 and last in the East Division with 11 points.
However, Bly has confidence that, in 2023, when he has a full offseason and training camp to instill his play style, he will get a fair shot at being the permanent coach.
“Ownership has told me that as long as it looks like the team is improving week to week, they’ll allow me to be the head coach for 2023,” Bly said. “And I will have a chance to build the team the way I want to and apply a style that I want to play.”
Even while coaching professionally, Bly cannot get away from the area. Bly’s family hails from Bradford, including both parents, grandparents and brother.
Married, Bly lives in Olean, makes a two-hour commute to Rochester and still makes frequent stops to Bradford to run the Twin Tiers Soccer Club, a team he designed to break down the barriers he faced growing up.
“Leaving Bradford was what I needed to do to spread my wings and it was crucial for me in getting me on track for the positions I wanted and for the goals I want to achieve,” Bly said. “But Bradford still imparted me with the right values and skills to make the leap.”
Bly founded Twin Tiers in October 2021 with 15 families, and in 10 months, it has grown to 45. The club provides elite training from a professional coaching staff.
“The youth game here in this country, when you grow up in a small town like Bradford that is at least a 90-minute drive from a larger area, is divided,” Bly said. “I never got to compete in regional or national events or even play for one of those clubs. I was always a kid that played locally for Bradford United Soccer Club and inside the walls.”
