With training camp underway, the Spokane Velocity FC has added to the coaching ranks. Renato Bustamante is joining the club as assistant coach.
Bustamante, who played in USL League One as recently as 2022, has had several years of success as a collegiate coach. He took over the soccer program for the College of the Sequoias in January 2020. In 2021, his first full season, he led the team to its first-ever Central Valley Conference championship and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs. He was named the CVC Coach of the Year.
In 2023 Bustamante became an assistant coach at Westmont College, and helped the men’s team become the NCCAA 2023 National Champion. He also coached at Clovis Community College and the Division I school University of California, Irvine.
A native of Peru, Bustamante moved to the Chicago area when he was 12. He began his collegiate playing career at Truman College, where he won All Region and NJCAA All-American honors. He transferred to Fresno Pacific University in 2013, where he was PacWest Conference Player of the Year and was named First Team All-American. During his senior year, he also played for the Fresno Fuego of the Premier Development League (now USL League Two).
Bustamante, a midfielder, began his professional playing career in 2016 with the Tampa Bay Rowdies organization of the North American Soccer League. A year later he returned to the Fuego and was named to the league’s All-Western Conference Team. He then spent two years with Fresno FC of USL Championship, appearing in 34 games and scoring five goals.
His mix of experience and success at several levels made Bustamante an appealing candidate for the Spokane Velocity FC as it heads into its inaugural season.
“Adding Renato to the staff is a big win for the club and community,” said Velocity Head Coach Leigh Veidman. “It’s important to bring in people who match our ethos of high character and high performance, and he checks both of those boxes. He is a great person, carries a great humility, growth mindset, and has a high-level footballing mind and skillset that will be an asset to our development as a club.”
Likewise, Bustamante was impressed by what he saw from the Velocity and heard from Sporting Department Consultant Gareth Smith, Coach Veidman and the club ownership.
“To be in an organization that prioritizes high character, high performance and promotes growth is exactly the opportunity I’ve been praying for. I’m so excited to give my all and contribute every day to the growth of the Spokane Velocity,” Bustamante said. “My hope is to lead by example by showing a strong desire to improve every day, being a good person, showing passion for the game, being attentive to detail, being of assistance to Leigh and the coaching staff and ultimately establishing a strong and successful foundation for the club, organization and community.”
The Velocity FC will begin its season with a friendly match with the Tacoma Defiance of MLS Next Pro at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at Lampson Stadium, 505 S. Garfield St. in Kennewick.
Catch a first look of the growing Technical Team at the first preseason game in Kennewick!
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