About YURI

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Gates Chili High School - State Co-Champion, Monroe County Player of the Year, All-State and All Greater Rochester honors

Indiana University - 2 time NCAA Champion, All American, Final Four MVP, 4 time All Big-Ten 

Chicago Fire - US Open Cup Champion, MLS Cup finalist

Rochester Rhinos - Divisional Champion

Montreal Impact - A-League Champion

Yuri was born in Kyiv, Ukraine and  remembers watching a soccer game while sitting on his father's lap at  the age of 4.  That memory is one of many that sums up his father's  prominent role in developing his son's passion for the game. At the age  of 7 Yuri tried out for the '77 team of the Dynamo Kyiv Youth Academy and was selected out of over 1000 players.

Many  sessions and 7 years later Yuri was one of only 2 players remaining on  the team that had constantly changed players for the better ones coming  from all over the country. Yuri's coaches at the Dynamo Kyiv academy  included Vladimir Onischenko - a former Dynamo great that won the  European Cup Winners Cup (equivalent to today's Champions League or UEFA  Cup), and Viktor Kondratov - another former Dynamo player who is  currently an assistant head coach for the senior Dynamo Kyiv squad.

Yuri  credits his years spent at the Dynamo Kyiv Academy as the foundation  for all his knowledge concerning playing and coaching the game of  soccer.

In 1990 Yuri's Dynamo team played in a  tournament in Italy where two teams from Rochester were also playing.   The Rochester teams then decided to host a tournament to which they  invited the Dynamo team.  Many American families hosted the foreign  players during the tournament and enjoyed them so much they requested  the same players when they returned to Rochester the following year for a  month of training and exhibition games.Some of the families invited  some of the players to stay with them and attend school.  It was an  opportunity that Yuri took advantage of and at the age of 14 he moved to  Chili in January of 1992. Yuri attended Gates Chili High School and as a  freshman joined the Varsity soccer team.  In those four years the team  won the Section V championship  three times, went to the state Final  Four three times and were state co-champions in 1995.  Yuri's  personal  rewards included Monroe County Player of the Year honors and multiple  All-State and All Greater Rochester selections.  Yuri finished his high  school career as the all time assists leader for Monroe County and the  all time points leader for Gates Chili.

Yuri was recruited by many Division I  colleges but ended up choosing, what is arguably the best soccer school  in the country, Indiana University.  Under the guidance of a coaching  staff that consisted of legendary coach Jerry Yeagley, and his  assistants Mike Freitag and John Trask, Yuri continued to develop his  soccer pedigree.  Coach Yeagley has since retired as the winningest  coach in Division I history and a Hall of Fame member.  Coach Freitag  has taken over the tradition of excellence at Indiana and has since won  another national championship.  Coach Trask, after a few years as an  assistant in MLS, has quickly built a powerhouse program at the  University of Illinois-Chicago.  

It is no surprise that under  such exceptional tutelage Yuri was able to lead the team to 2 NCAA  titles while scoring the game winning goal in each of the National  Finals.  The Big Ten title was an expectation at Indiana as Yuri never  lost a Big Ten match in four years of competition.  Yuri ended his  college career with numerous all time scoring records including being  on the top of  all time assists leader board for NCAA tournament play.

Yuri  also excelled in the classroom earning multiple Academic All Big Ten  honors and graduating from IU in three and a half years with a major in  Liberal Arts and a minor in General Business.

Yuri was signed by MLS in January of 2000  and later was drafted by the Chicago Fire.  While with Chicago Yuri won  the US Open Cup and was an MLS finalist participant.  The former US  Men's National Team coach and current coach of the Swansea City in the  English Premier League, Bob Bradley, was Yuri's coach during his time  with the Fire.  Yuri credits training and playing with players such as  Hristo Stoitchkov ('94 World Player of the Year) and Peter Novak  (BundesLiga Player of the Year) for his development at the professional  level.  

In May of 2001 Yuri signed with the Milwaukee Rampage  and spent the rest of the season there before returning home to  Rochester in 2002 where he signed with the Rhinos.  While at Rochester  Yuri helped the team earn two divisional championships.  

In the summer of 2004 Yuri signed with the Montreal Impact where he won the A-League Championship that same season.

Yuri serves as the Technical Director for the FC Dynamo ROC soccer club where he also coaches a few different age groups that included most recent State Cup Champions with the FC Dynamo Boys U16 and Girls U18 teams..   

In 2004 Yuri earned  an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology and also served as an  adjunct professor at St. John Fisher College. 

Yuri also serves as an Associate Head Coach for Rochester institute of Technology Men’s program. 

Currently Yuri and his  wife, Meghan, live in Webster with their three children Isa, Vlad and  Declan.