SJEB FC are pleased to announce our WPSL First Team and Reserve team coaching staff for the 2021 season. Club Stalwart John Thompson will be joined by former Ocean City Nor’easters assistant coach Christos Economopoulos who will be Co-Head Coach of the First Team and Head Coach with Jeff Zoyac coaching the SJEB FC U23 Women’s team.
Christos Economopoulos brings excellent management skills along with an impressive work ethic to the club where his role will be to implement syllabus, and coaching methodology to those age groups. "I'm really happy to accept a role with the SJEB FC WPSL team. The club has produced numerous quality players throughout their history and our roster is a testament to that with a large proportion of signed players having played for the youth club. We will be competitive in our first season in the league, and excited to run our first training session with the team.”
Economopoulos spent 7 years on the Ocean City Nor’easters technical staff serving several roles within the club notably as First Team Assistant Coach in 2017 and 2018 assisting SJEB FC Technical Director John Thompson. He worked as the clubs sports therapist offering his expertise in the fields of strength and conditioning, sports massage, and player recovery to ensure that every player on the roster is able to perform at optimum level throughout the season and a big part in helping the club win the 2013 USL PDL Mid-Atlantic Division Championship, the 2013 & 2016 USL PDL Eastern Conference Champions and reaching the 2013 and 2016 National Semi-finals. He also spent two seasons with the Cedar Stars Academy USSDA Boys program as their Head of Sports Performance.
After earning a National Certificate in Exercise and Fitness from the University of Limerick in his home nation of Ireland, Christos has also earned a professional qualification in Massage and Sports Therapy as well as UEFA C license and coaching licenses form the Football Association of Ireland (FIA).
Jeff Zoyac is the Head Coach of the Wilmington University women’s soccer program, he took over the women’s soccer head coaching job in 2015 after spending the previous 11 seasons on the men’s side. During his first five years at the helm of the Wildcats, Zoyac’s student-athletes have earned 16 All-CACC honors, including one CACC Goalkeeper of the Year, and eight different All-Region honors.
Prior to coaching at Wilmington, Zoyac finished his collegiate career as a Wildcat, transferring from Rowan College after the Profs to a NCAA Division III National Semifinal appearance as a sweeper. Upon joining Wilmington in 2003, he led the Wildcats in scoring and was a crucial piece of their second CACC Championship. He finished his collegiate soccer career as an Honorable Mention All-CACC selection.
Zoyac has been with the SJEB FC organizations as a Coach for the past decade. Under his tutelage, the U18’s girls’ team has claimed back-to-back U.S. Club New Jersey State Championships and has been ranked in the top-3 in the state in each of the past two seasons. Zoyac has also coached the U14 and U 16 teams at NJ Rush, leading each team into the top-10 in the state.
John Thompson is a native of Penrith, England, he joined the SJEB FC in May 2002 and has been heavily involved in the community since his arrival in New Jersey. He joined the club after graduating from Lewis University (IL) where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems.
In addition to coaching many youth teams over the past 20 years he was the assistant coach of the Ocean City Barons PDL team in 2006 & 2007 and Head Coach in 2017 and 2018. His team took professional club Harrisburg City Islanders (now Penn FC) to penalties, losing 6-5 in the US Open Cup first round. In the 2018 US Open Cup Thompson's Nor'Easter side beat USL Championship team Charlotte Independence 3-1 in a 2nd round upset before losing to USL Championship team North Carolina FC 4-0 in the 3rd round.
As a player Thompson is one of only 40 players in the history of NCAA DI, DII & DIII college soccer to garner Three 1st Team-All American honors. He is in the Lewis University Hall of Fame, was a 2 time USL2 All-League team selection and the 2004 League Defender of the year.