Minnesota United player personnel director Amos Magee is switching jobs within the organization and now will oversee the club's Youth Development Program as its vice president.
The Minnesota Thunder's all-time leading scorer during his playing days, Magee will manage the program's coaching staff, oversee the club's academy and develop the Pro Player Pathway intended to move players from youth soccer, the academy and the Loons' MNUFC2 reserve team to the first team.
St. Paul raised, Magee has been in Loons management since 2016. He has worked closely with technical director Mark Watson while he scouted players worldwide, helped build the club's analytics department and worked with the coaching staff to develop the first-team roster.
"I step out of this space feeling pretty good about the roster that we built over six years and the success that we had," he said.
Magee said he wasn't initially interested in the job change. But team CEO Shari Ballard and Chief Soccer Officer Manny Lagos convinced him otherwise.
"The more I thought about it, the more I thought about the opportunity to build out something that would last beyond a roster of 18 and 30 players," Magee said. "Something that would last into many years afterwards for soccer players in Minnesota, which I consider myself of. Then it made sense."
Magee played his high school soccer at St. Paul Academy. He also played professionally for MLS teams Tampa Bay and Chicago before he retired in 2004. He coached the Thunder — a forerunner to Minnesota United — for three seasons in the mid-2000s. He helped oversee the Portland Timbers' move from USL to MLS in 2011 before he joined DC United's coaching staff for two seasons starting in 2014.
Noel Quinn will continue as the Youth Development Program's director responsible for creating a lasting connection between the MLS club and youth soccer at all levels across Minnesota, the team said Wednesday in announcing Magee's job change.
Magee's new job will include building relationships throughout the Minnesota youth soccer community with the hope of developing more elite players from the state.
"We've had some good players; we have good players now in our academy," Magee said. "But we have to find out a way to get from good players in MLS Next to good players in MLS."
