, the uncle of former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. Wilson announced in June he was leaving on Oct. 31 after just 2 1/2 years. He took over from Dan Flynn, who held the job from June 2000 until September 2019.
Batson has assumed his new role at a key time for the federation. The U.S. men are headed this November to the World Cup in Qatar after missing out on Russia in 2018. The U.S. women are the top-ranked team in the world and will defend their title at the Women's World Cup in Australia next summer. The United States will also jointly host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada in 2026.
"There’s a lot of momentum, there’s a lot of excitement. And there’s a lot of great ideas within the broader US Soccer community about how we grow the game for everyone," Batson said."And as someone who grew up in the game and who fell in love with soccer as a young kid, where we are as a soccer nation and where we are as a federation is unrecognizable in a positive way relative to the 90s when I first fell in love with the sport. There’s so many good things going on.