When former Scottish Premier League player and manager David Robertson moved to Arizona in 2007 to become Director of Coaching at Sereno Soccer Club in Phoenix, some might have wondered why he would leave the European big leagues to become a youth soccer coach in the United States. On paper, it’s a legitimate question.

But a closer look at the man, and at the youth club he chose, helps to provide some answers.

First off, Robertson didn’t come to Arizona to coach a recreational team or to dominate the competition in the local pickup league. He came to Sereno SC, a well-established club that has produced 125 state champions, nine regional champions, and one national championship team since its inception in 1994. He came to a club that has produced 17 U.S. National Team players and hosts a variety of youth tournaments at its complex.

In other words, Robertson didn’t bow out of competitive soccer when he left the U.K. He simply left one Premier League for another.

The move to Arizona makes even more sense when you consider the makeup of Robertson’s character, and the things he learned during his long and illustrious playing career in Europe. In 2007, after 16 years in which he had made a total of 351 appearances for clubs like Aberdeen, Rangers, Leeds United and Montrose, Robertson’s celebrity-like status in the U.K. began to weigh on him, and a fresh start in the U.S. seemed like an attractive opportunity.

“My family and I had always come to America during the summer, staying for five, six weeks at a time,” Robertson says. “Once I left Montrose I had a couple of offers to stay in Europe, but then the opportunity to come to Sereno came along, and I had to take it. It was a chance to come to a place where no one knew who I was, where I could stop being concerned about my background and start proving myself in a new environment as a coach. It was a fresh opportunity, and I’m glad I took it. I haven’t looked back since.”

Robertson said soccer has come a long way in the U.S., and that he sees great potential in the talent pool that, now that he’s the Director of Coaching at Sereno, lies at his fingertips.

“The kids here are very good. Sereno is a very professional organization. It’s on par with most Premiership youth programs – even better than most, actually. Kids in this country are starting to play soccer at an earlier age, and that can only help the development of the sport.

“In Scotland, soccer is the only sport, so naturally everyone plays it. Here, there’s baseball, basketball, football and all these other sports that the best athletes often get into. But as these new soccer kids grow up, they’ll teach their kids to play soccer, and it’ll become more and more a part of the culture. I think that some day, the U.S. will have the world’s best soccer team, and you can already start to see that happening with these kids now.”

As a player in the U.K., Robertson was a fan-favorite and gained a reputation as a swift-footed left-back, a player who could defend but also attack with pace along the wing. His playing success gave him a unique perspective as a coach, which he says has allowed him to focus less on what he wants to accomplish, and more on what he wants his players to achieve.

“There are some coaches who are in it for themselves. But for me, maybe because I’ve already had a fair amount of success, it’s all about the kids. My ’94 boys, they hadn’t won the state cup for a few years before I got here. When I got here, I tried to help them the best I could, and they wound up winning the state cup, winning regionals, and getting to the final game of nationals. When I saw their faces during that run, I was so happy. I couldn’t care less about myself. I was just so proud of the way they had come to believe in themselves and each other and achieve their dream.”

Robertson said his goal at Sereno is to help his players get better every day and keep their fire burning; and while championships are nice for the mantelpiece, he gets more satisfaction out of seeing his players succeed as individuals, at the college level and beyond. He said no matter if you win, lose or draw, a coach has done his job at the end of the day if every player can say he has learned something about the game, however small.

When asked what he sees himself doing five or ten years down the road, Robertson, now 41, said he hopes to be right where he is now, coaching at Sereno SC in Arizona.

“It’s a great place. The players, the staff, the organization, the facilities, they’re all top-rate.

“And the sunshine is pretty nice, too.”