Off of the field, Batten gave graciously back to the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association where he served on the Board of Directors and was the President in 1985-86. Batten served as the Tournament Director for 1989 Wrangler/McDonald's Soccer Tournament. He served as the fields coordinator for all tournaments for more than a decade. During that time, Wrangler/McDonald's was played across the county at several complexes. His job description was very simple.....Get the fields ready..... which included mowing and lining the fields and moving goals all around the city. Batten was instrumental in the design and construction of the Bryan Park Soccer Complex and served as the Complex Director for many years. Batten's contributions to the sport of soccer extended beyond the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association, as he became a consultant to organizations building soccer complexes throughout the Southeastern United States and assisted the City of Birmingham as they served as a venue for soccer during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. When UNC Greensboro hosted the NCAA Women's Soccer National Championships in 1996 and 1997, Batten was a key member of the Local Organizing Committee. The North Carolina Youth Soccer Association honored Batten by naming him a Pioneer of the Game in 1998. When the Bryan Park Soccer Complex was expanded in the late 1990's, the additional fields were named the Jim Batten Complex at Bryan Park.

Batten also served on the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Commission and was a Board Member and President of Goodwill Industries and the Piedmont Lung Association. A very active member of his church, Batten was a Certified Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church and a Stephen Minister.

James M. Batten was a true leader and role model, on the field and off of it. He was a man of character and great energy, and he routinely deflected personal praise to recognize others all along the way. Batten had a great vision for Greensboro Youth Soccer and the Bryan Park Soccer Complex and through that vision worked to develop what is known to be one of the finest soccer facilities in the United States.

Joseph M. Bryan, Sr.

Leader, philanthropist, and visionary are words used to describe Joseph M. Bryan, Sr. From his modest beginnings in Elyria, Ohio to his death at age 99, Bryan was a man who started with so very little, but has given so very much.

Because of his mother's death at an early age, Bryan and his four siblings were separated and lived with various people and relatives. Bryan lived with a family in Farmingham, Ohio and worked as a custodian at the school he attended to earn his keep, before dropping out of school at the age of 16 and finding a fulltime job to support himself. At the age of 18, Bryan enrolled at the Mount Herman School and excelled as a student before being forced to drop out prior to graduation due to a lack of funds.

Bryan then moved to New York to live with his uncle, who was the Chief of Staff at the Staten Island Hospital in New York. As the First World War began, Bryan volunteered for service and was a Medical Staff Sergeant in the battlefields of France. After a brief stint working in Haiti, Bryan moved back to the United States and at the age of 27 became the youngest member of the New York Cotton Exchange. Bryan realized business and financial success prior to and during the Crash of 1929, when by taking certain financial risks Bryan made substantial profits.

In 1927, Bryan married Kathleen Marshall Price, and in 1931 they moved to Greensboro, North Carolina to raise their three children. Bryan then joined Mrs. Bryan's father, Julian Price, at the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company. As an officer in the company, Among other achievements, Bryan established a communications network of newspapers and radio stations and was largely responsible for bringing the first television station to the Carolinas.

During his rise in the corporate world, Bryan became a leader in the community and with his wife, began to make significant financial contributions to his community and state. The concept for Bryan Park germinated in the early 1960's as a family oriented recreational facility and golf complex, without ever thinking of the concept of a soccer complex. The first section of the park was built after a 1970 bond issue and was named in honor of Joseph and Kathleen Bryan. In 1971, Bryan purchased a tract of land adjacent to the park and donated it to the City of Greensboro for future expansion of the park, that today expands over approximately 1,550 acres.

In the mid 1980's, the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association began discussions about constructing a soccer complex on land that had been purchased in the northwest part of Guilford County. Through the vision of Bryan and Jim Melvin, then Mayor of Greensboro, the concept of the Bryan Park Soccer Complex was presented to the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association and the City of Greensboro. Through the years, the Bryan Park Soccer Complex has continued to grow through the support of Bryan himself and the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation. Today, the Bryan Park Soccer Complex is comprised of seventeen beautiful soccer fields in a complex that is recognized as one of the finest in the United States, set within the vision of excellence and community philanthropy embodied by Joseph M. Bryan, Sr. and his legacy.

Siri Mullinix

Olympic Silver Medalist, United States Women's National Team member, NCAA National Champion, NCYSA State Champion, MVP, and Greensboro Twister are all titles that describe the soccer path of Siri Mullinix. It is the dream of every girl who plays soccer to accomplish some of the things that Mullinix has accomplished as a soccer player from Greensboro, North Carolina.

An accomplished youth player, Mullinix was a member of the '78 Greensboro Twisters who won NCYSA State Cup Championships for three consecutive years starting in 1990 and then again in 1995. Mullinix and the Twisters followed up the state titles as Region III Semifinalists in 1992 and 1995. In 1995, Mullinix was named the Outstanding Goalkeeper and won the FIFA Fair Play Sportsmanship Award at the Region III Championships, and was also named MVP of the NCYSA Under 17 State Cup Championships. Mullinix was a two-time North Carolina High School All-State team member, in 1994 and 1995. Mullinix led Ragsdale High School to the 1994 NCHSAA State Championship and was MVP of the Championships.

Mullinix then continued her success on the soccer field at the University of North Carolina, where she was a three-year starter and played in 90 career matches. Mullinix played on teams that won four ACC Championships and two NCAA Championships. Mullinix led the Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship in Greensboro in 1997 and was named Defensive MVP of the Championships. During her career at UNC, Mullinix allowed only an average of 0.27 goals per game, ranking second-best in school history. As a sophomore, Mullinix earned a 120-minute shutout of Notre Dame in the NCAA National Championship.

Mullinix began her career on the United States Women's National Team in 1994 when she became a member of the Under-16 USWNT. In 1999, Mullinix earned a position as one of four goalkeepers in residency camp for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup and led the Under-21 National Team to the Nordic Cup Championship. 2000 was a record breaking year for Mullinix, as she started 28 games, the most ever for a U.S. goalkeeper in a calendar year, and also set a new record for shutouts in a year, with 15. Mullinix had a key save late in the 2000 Olympic Semifinal Game against Brazil that preserved the win and propelled the team to the Olympic Silver Medal. Mullinix started each game of the 2000 Olympics and is the second most capped goalkeeper in U.S. Women's National Team history.

Mullinix became the first player from Greensboro to play in the WUSA when she started playing in 2001 with the Washington Freedom. Mullinix led the Freedom to two consecutive Founders Cups in 2002 and 2003, with the Freedom claiming the Championship in 2003. In 2002, Mullinix was named a reserve for the WUSA All-Star team and in 2003 led the WUSA in saves.

Siri Mullinix began her soccer career as a player in the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association and is a role model for each girl playing soccer in Greensboro. As a sportsperson and a champion, Mullinix has become a hero and an inspiration......and a winner, at every level.

William D. Utter

William Utter wore many hats during his involvement with Greensboro Youth Soccer and the sport of soccer in North Carolina. Coach, referee, mentor, director, and teacher were all words that have been used to describe him.
Utter and his wife Beverly moved their family to Greensboro in 1972 from New York to become the Head Soccer Coach at UNC Greensboro. After a one-year stint in New York in 1975, the Utter family moved back to Greensboro where Utter got involved as a coach in the newly formed Greensboro Youth Soccer Association. As a recreation coach, Utter began coaching the soccer teams of his daughters. In 1991, Utter began coaching the '76 Greensboro Twisters, who won three straight NCYSA State Cup Championships from 1992 to 1994. In 1993, the '76 Twisters won the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III Championships and advanced to the Under-17 National Championships where the team was a Finalist. In 1994, that team finished their career as the Finalists in the Region III Championships. In 1992, Utter and Rich Winslow began coaching the '83 Greensboro Twisters, that quickly became known as one of the best teams in the southeast after winning premier national tournaments at WAGS, Jefferson Cup, Raleigh Shootout, and then Wrangler/McDonald's, all while also finishing as the NCYSA State Cup Finalist in 1995 and 1997. Utter coached the '77 Greensboro Twisters from 1994 until 1996 and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association for four years, starting in 1993. In 1996, Utter was named as the Greensboro Youth Soccer Girls Classic Coach of the Year.

While earning great respect on the field as a coach, Utter additionally earned the highest levels of respect as a referee. For over 20 years, Utter refereed professional, amateur, youth and college soccer matches. During that span, Utter achieved the level of State Class I (05) Referee from the United States Soccer Federation and was chosen to referee the NCAA Women's National Championship. Utter was very active as a high school referee and served as the Assignor for high school referees in the Triad Area of North Carolina for over 15 years. Utter served as the Director of the Piedmont Soccer Officials in 1986 and was a Principal Examiner and Member of the Board of Directors for the Triangle Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association. In 1999, the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association honored Utter for his contributions by naming an award after him.....the Bill Utter Career Achievement Award, honoring referees that have made significant contributions to the sport of soccer.

William Utter left his mark on the sport of soccer in Greensboro as a coach, administrator, and referee. The biggest mark he made though, was on the lives of the girls he coached. Utter inspired "his girls" to play "the right way," with sportsmanship, but play hard. A teacher by trade, Utter taught his teams the lifelong values of teamwork, dedication, commitment, discipline, and a love for the sport of soccer, all contributing to mold the many young women he coached and lead to their future successes, both on and off the field.