‘Welcome to Soccer County.’ Westchester SC to call Mount Vernon’s Memorial Field home next spring

Team leadership has had preliminary discussions on bringing a women's team to Westchester in the coming years.

Jonathan Gordon

Jun 11, 2024, 9:14 PM

Updated 116 days ago

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A new professional men's soccer team will call Memorial Field in Mount Vernon its home once it starts play next spring.
At a signing event on Tuesday, Mount Vernon City officials officially inked the deal with representatives from the Westchester Soccer Club. The team is affiliated with the United Soccer League which is the largest professional soccer league in North America.
"Welcome to Soccer County everyone," Westchester Soccer Club Principal Owner Mitch Baruchowitz said. "We can attract and fill this stadium with people from Westchester, from Rockland, from Bergen, from lower Fairfield County and really attract the best soccer players here and make it this one huge monolith that really people are proud of."
The league is currently made up of 12 teams in states like North Carolina, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Westchester would be part of league expansion including five other teams in California, Maine, Texas and Florida.
The deal is a massive win for the city after the once-historic facility was left unusable and blighted for over a decade. The field officially reopened in 2022 after a $40 million project that included funding from Westchester County. The field seats nearly 4,000 and has fully renovated locker rooms, concessions and public park facilities.
The city will now reap the benefits of its investment.
​"We will utilize the money to invest back into Memorial Stadium as well as to our youth and our adult sports programs," Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said. "Mount Vernon is being reinvigorated through Memorial Field."
The Westchester Soccer Club hopes to capitalize on the excitement of the World Cup coming to the United States in 2026.
Team leadership has had preliminary discussions on bringing a women's team to Westchester in the coming years.