Jason Vanacour is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who is the

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

for the

United States Youth Soccer Association The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer, abbreviated USYS) is the largest youth affiliate and member of the United States Soccer Federation, the governing body for soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 S ...

. Vanacour played professionally in the National Professional Soccer League,

USISL Select League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice ...

and had stints in Germany and Austria. Vanacour grew up in Arizona, playing for the Cisco Lightning Soccer Club. He graduated from

Cactus High School Cactus High School is public secondary school located in Glendale, Arizona, United States, part of the Peoria Unified School District. The school opened its doors in August 1977. It is the district's smallest high school, with approximately ...

and attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, playing on the men's soccer team from 1989 to 1993. During the 1992 collegiate off-season, Vanacour played for the Palo Alto Firebirds in the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. Vanacour graduated with a bachelor's degrees in political science and economics. In the summer of 1993, Vanacour played for the United States National B Team. Following graduation from Stanford, he worked briefly as a stockbroker, but left the job to play for the National B Team in a game in Bermuda. He then decided to pursue a professional playing career, joining the

Arizona Sandsharks Arizona Sandsharks was a U.S. indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). It was founded in 1992 and folded in 1997, along with the CISL. Club history The Sandsharks were founded on August 3, 1992, under the o ...

of the

in 1994. He spent two seasons with the Sandsharks. During this time Vanacour also had brief stints in Germany and Austria, including traveling and playing with Casino Salzburg of the Austrian Bundesliga. In the fall of 1995, Vanacour moved to Florida to sign with the

Tampa Bay Terror The Tampa Bay Terror is the name of an indoor soccer team based in the Tampa Bay, Florida area that competed in the defunct National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The team existed for two seasons before folding: 1995–1996 and 1996–1997. ...

of the National Professional Soccer League. In 1996, he did not play for Arizona during the summer indoor season, but remained in Florida to play the summer outdoor season with the

Jacksonville Cyclones The Jacksonville Cyclones were a professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They played in the A-League from 1997 to 1999. The team originated as the Tampa Bay Cyclones, who played in Tampa, Florida from 1995 to 1996 before moving ...

of the

. In 1997, Vanacour returned to play for the Sandsharks. Vanacour spent the 1997–1998 season with the Cincinnati Silverbacks in the NPSL. In 1998, Vanacour split his time between the outdoor

Arizona Sahuaros Sporting Arizona FC is an American developmental soccer team based in Arizona that was founded in 1989. They compete in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) Premier Division. History The club originally started in 1989 as the Phoenix Hearts ...

of the USISL D-3 Pro League and the

Arizona Thunder The Arizona Thunder was a professional indoor soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. In 1997, the team was a member of the Premier Soccer Alliance. In 1998, the alliance, with some additional teams, reconstituted itself as the Wo ...

of the Premier Soccer Alliance. He was All League with the Thunder. In 1999, he played for only the Thunder, now in the

World Indoor Soccer League The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States–based indoor soccer sports league, league that operated from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its te ...

. In 2000, he again split his time between two teams, the Thunder, and the Tucson Fireballs. He was All League with the Thunder. By the 2001 season, with the Fireballs Vanacour had entered the

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (ASU Law) is the law school at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is in the Beus Center for Law and Society on ASU's downtown Phoenix campus. Created in 1965 as the Arizona State Unive ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. He graduated in 2003 and began practicing law with Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. in Phoenix in October. In April 2010, Vanacour was hired as the

for

.Jason Vanacour named general counsel for US Youth Soccer
/ref> After leaving United States Youth Soccer, Vanacour was assistant general counsel for a large hedge fund based in Dallas until 2013. Vanacour then opened his own law firm, Vanacour Schuler Zarin, which then became Vanacour Perkins and founded North American Subrogation ("Subro Smart"), which he eventually sold his stake in. Currently, Vanacour continues to run his law firm, but is also General Counsel and managing director for the Americas for Phoenix Advisors, Ltd., an Abu Dhabi-based firm focused on litigation funding, asset recovery, and advisory services in the GCC, surrounding regions of South Asia and Africa, the Americas and Europe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanacour, Jason Living people 1959 births American men's soccer players Arizona Thunder players Sporting Arizona FC players Arizona Sandsharks players Cincinnati Silverbacks players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Jacksonville Cyclones players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Palo Alto Firebirds players Soccer players from Arizona Stanford Cardinal men's soccer players Tampa Bay Terror players Tucson Fireballs players Milwaukee Wave United players USISL players USISL Select League players USL Second Division players World Indoor Soccer League players Men's association football forwards American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Austria American expatriate sportspeople in Austria American expatriate men's soccer players Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law alumni Arizona lawyers Sportspeople from Glendale, Arizona 20th-century American sportsmen