Columbus East Football Club (CEFC) offers a dedicated club soccer environment with an emphasis placed on player development within the group structure. CEFC has a partnership with Columbus East Soccer Association (CESA), a non-profit organization, which manages the CESA Easton Fields and its related programing. CEFC intends to deliver a curriculum based on best practices gleaned from some of the leading soccer academies in the world. CEFC will provide, educated, committed, and energetic coaches within that structure. CEFC’s mission is to develop creative, skillful, technically sound, tactically aware, adaptable soccer players who understand, love and appreciate the game. These core values incorporate an understanding that winning at the youth level is not a prerequisite for molding and coaching elite soccer players. Winning tournaments and games are a byproduct of players who are developed and coached in the right way, and are not the end goal. 

Our Coaches

Our coaches subscribe to the CEFC coaching curriculum and philosophy, which emphasizes teaching players technical skills and tactical awareness. Players will always look to play forward. The pattern of play will be to play out from the back, through midfield and into the final third. The goal is to mold players who understand and demonstrate the best decision making on the soccer field in all situations.

Ben Levey
CEFC Director of Operations
Technical Director Zone 1 (6 - 11 years old)
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I always knew I wanted to work with kids and coach. The game allows us to teach our players leadership, teamwork, confidence, discipline, and more. I began my playing career at five years-old with the Columbus East Soccer Association (CESA), and later went on to play for several different clubs in the central-Ohio area. In 2003 & 2005 I played a role on the Bexley High School State Championship teams - captaining the '05 team.   During my four years in college I continued to play club soccer, and started to focus on coaching the game at 20-years old. Over the past ten years I have continued to develop as a coach, working with many different age groups, from 5 to 18 years-old. Go CEFC!

Mwaliko Ahmed
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I have coached with CEFC over the past year and look forward to continuing to develop as a coach with the club. It is amazing how much you can have an impact on a kids life through soccer. I  have been playing the game from a very young age, and I still continue to compete. I will be playing soccer until I cannot stand! I am from Kenya, and I played for West High School for 4 years, and Urbana University for 4 years. During my senior year both in High School, and in College, I was named Captain. I have played defense, midfield, left back and right back.  Love, peace, soccer. 

Sarah Jansing
I started playing soccer at age 5 and my love for the game has only grown since. I grew up in Dayton and played club from age 9 until age 18. I had the honor playing under and learning from great coaches in the Dayton area. I played on Archbishop Alter High School's Varsity Women's soccer team for 4 years. I was voted as captain my senior year. I endured ACL surgery twice during my junior year in high school but, I was able fully recover and play my senior year. I was blessed to fulfill my dream of playing collegiate soccer at Ursuline College in Pepperpike, OH. My only season there, I earned All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference honorable mention. I want to share the same passion and dedication that all my coaches have shared with me. The game of soccer has molded me into the person I am today. I'm excited to work with the wonderful staff of Columbus East FC and help make your child's love for the game grow!

Max Rosenthal
​I grew up in Gahanna, playing soccer throughout Columbus during my youth for clubs such as Gahanna Arsenal, New Albany Freedom, as well Blast FC.  I graduated from Gahanna Lincoln High School where I was part of a State Championship team my Junior year.  I received offers to play in college, but always wanted to be a Buckeye.  Aside from playing, I have also been a referee for leagues including MOSSL and OCL for 8 years. I fully believe in the philosophy C.E.F.C. has put in place, putting the players, the kids, first.  I am eager for the kids to learn the game, but most importantly to have fun and enjoy what they are doing. The game is a beautiful thing, and can mold incredible individuals on and off the field.

Joe Macklin
I began playing soccer in the CESA organization when I was 5 years old, and later, playing club soccer in Ohio, competed at the national level.  During my junior year at Bexley, we made a run at the state title, falling one game short of the final, and I was elected to co-captain the team the following year. Some of my best memories from my childhood were spent playing competitive soccer – meeting guys who are still some of my best friends today, learning from the wins but also the hard practices and losses, and having great coaching role models to look up to. I have been coaching with Columbus East F.C. for the past year and a half, and I hope to provide the same type of environment for the players and teams that I coach at the club!

CEFC/CESA Prep Academy
Under 6 - Under 7 age Groups

The Prep Academy, run by Columbus East FC (CEFC) coaches, is a youth soccer development program for more serious Under 6 - Under 7 soccer players. It is run in partnership with Columbus East Soccer Association (CESA), CEFC's partner recreational program.

​ Participants will be provided with an additional one-hour practice session on Sunday evenings at CESA Easton Fields, several scrimmages, a home and away practice jersey, shorts, and socks. They will be expected to wear their CESA soccer uniform for each practice session, and also for scrimmages (4-6 potential games) that will be set up with other teams/clubs throughout the season. Prep Academy players will still be expected to join their CESA recreational team for practice during the week and league game every weekend. 

Please visit CESA's website for more information and to register. Thank you.

Club soccer commences at the Under-9 level. This program helps those pre-club age players who are interested in bridging the move more effectively from recreational soccer to club level. CESA Prep Academy's mission is to develop creative, skillful, technically sound, adaptable soccer players who understand, love and appreciate the game. Columbus East FC emphasizes a player development coaching model.
For more information contact Ben Levey (ben@columbuseastfc.org).

Tryout Info

Age Groups	TBD	TBD	TBD	​TBD
​Birth Year 2012 = U8 Boys & Girls	​6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]	​6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]
Birth Year 2011 = U9 Boys & Girls	​6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]	​6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]
Birth Year 2010 = U10 Boys & Girls ​	​6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]	​6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]
Birth Year 2009 = U11 Boys & Girls	[ ]	6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]	​6pm - 7:30pm
Birth Year 2008 = U12 Boys & Girls ​	[ ]	​6pm - 7:30pm	[ ]	​6pm - 7:30pm

Location

Boys & Girls

Easton Soccer Fields
4475 Sunbury Road
Columbus, OH 43219

It is recommended for players to attend at least two days of tryouts.

BIRTH YEAR REGISTRATION MANDATE

US Youth Soccer, along with other youth soccer sanctioning bodies, will be implementing the U.S. Soccer Federation’s birth-year registration mandates on Aug. 1, 2016.

	​Under 6	Under 7	Under 8	​Under 9	​Under 10	​Under 11	​Under 12
​2017-18	​Born in 2012	Born in 2011	Born in 2010	Born in 2009	​Born in 2008	​Born in 2007	​Born in 2006
2018-19	​Born in 2013	Born in 2012	Born in 2011	Born in 2010	​Born in 2009	​Born in 2008	​Born in 2007

Birth-year registration calendars will now align with the start of the calendar year and run from January to December, rather than August to July as it had previously. For example, a U-15 player (players 15 years old or younger) would have a birth year of 2000 (Jan. 1 through Dec. 31) for the 2015 registration year.  In 2016, U-15 players would be born in 2001 or earlier. Birth-year registration applies to all player age groups and not just players age 12 and younger. The initiative will align registration with the international standard, while simultaneously providing clearer information on player birth dates to combat ‘relative age effect’.

Relative age effect refers to the selection bias related to players that are more physically mature than their peers due to being born earlier in the year. U.S. Soccer seeks a balance of players that are born throughout the year so that all players, those born in the earlier months, and those born later have equal opportunity to grow and develop as soccer players.

This means that beginning Aug. 1, 2016 all regional and national US Youth Soccer competitions, including all levels of the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series, US Youth Soccer National League, US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program, US Youth Soccer Regional Leagues and US Youth Soccer Presidents Cup, will be based on age group cut-offs of January 1 for each age group. Due to additional interpretative changes by U.S. Soccer since this announcement in how competition age groups are labeled, US Youth Soccer and other sanctioning bodies are now clarifying the age group structures for the 2016-2017 season.

There are no programs or divisions available at the moment.
​Please contact your club administrator with any questions.

Field Location

4475 Sunbury Road, Columbus Ohio 43219

CE FC's home fields are at the The Soccer Fields at Easton. The facility is part of the Easton Town Center and is located at 4475 Sunbury Road, Columbus, Ohio 43219. It is about a quarter of a mile south of Morse Road.

The Soccer Fields at Easton is a 45 acre complex divided into two sections - North and South. Separate Parking Lots are available for both sections.

Fields 1-6 are located at the SOUTH end of the complex.
Fields 7-13 are located at the NORTH end of the complex.

Partners

Columbus East Soccer Association (www.cesasoccer.org) has been offering recreational soccer since 1984. The purpose of the program is for players to learn the game and have fun doing it. The curriculum is developmental by design and focuses on individual skills development and on team tactics. The soccer year runs from August 1st through May 31st and is comprised of two season: Fall and Spring. Players may choose to play during either one or both seasons. Each season runs for eight weeks. The Fall Season typically begins the week after Labor Day and runs through the month of October. The Spring Season typically begins the first week in April and runs through the month of May. No games are scheduled for Labor Day or Memorial Day weekends.

Columbus East F.C. has formed a partnership with CESA to provide coaching education opportunities, camps, clinics, and more. The CESA Prep Academy is one of the many programs that have been implemented with the help of CEFC. Please click here to read more about the Prep Academy.

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​Contact Us

Ben Levey
Mobile: 614 9627222
E Mail: ben@finalthirdfoundation.org

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