Congratulations to Russ Canan, D.C. United's August Coach of the Month!

Russ Canan has devoted years to molding the children of D.C. and teaching them the fundamentals of soccer. Russ has done a phenomenal job making sure that sportsmanship, fair play and skill development always came first. Everyone at D.C. United would like to thank Russ for being such a great role model in our nation's capital and would like to extend congratulations on being selected at the Coach of the Month for August!

Russ Canan has been coaching soccer in the District of Columbia's Stoddert league since his two boys were in pre-K -- they are now playing in U-15 and U-13. Several years ago, Russ was nominated for this honor by one of his sons who wrote: "I nominate my Dad for Coach of the Month. He has us doing all these crazy drills, but my teammates really like him and he doesn't yell at us." This year, parents and players nominated him, and we're proud to honor him as our Coach of the Month.

Russ had never played the game and has greatly benefited by clinics led by Stoddert's Director of Coaching, Hall of Famer Len Oliver. Coach Russ is also very grateful to his co-coaches over the years: Steve Marshall, John Kostyack and Chris Vaden.

Coach Russ has tried to instill Stoddert's philosophy of sportsmanship, fair play and skill development while forging friendships and team spirit for all players.

Coaching has been a great opportunity to work closely and mentor all the kids over the years while having fun playing the "beautiful game."

Russ would like to thank the Coaches Association for all its support and feels very honored to have been selected as Coach of the Month.