Coach Stensland:  A soccer player since the age of four, I developed a deep passion for the sport. I was a competitive member of the Oakwood Soccer Club for a decade until it was time to move on to the collegiate level, where I played Division 1 soccer at Quinnipiac before transferring to Eastern Connecticut State University where I played for three years.

After college, I was an assistant men’s soccer coach at Eastern and was a youth soccer coach as well. In 2016, I began teaching and coaching at Mercersburg Academy, an independent coed college-preparatory boarding and day school for grades 9-12 and postgraduates in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 2020, I joined the Avon Old Farms School faculty.

I have a master's degree in sport and recreation sciences with a concentration in soccer coaching from Ohio University. I also hold an advanced national diploma from the United Soccer Coaches. Currently I am pursuing my U.S. Soccer C License.

Coach Stensland:  We are a proud member of the Founders League which is a group of highly selective college preparatory schools and nationally recognized as one of the most competitive and respected athletic leagues in the country. Our competition includes: Loomis Chaffee, Choate, Hotchkiss, Westminster, Taft, Kent, Trinity-Pawling, and Kingswood Oxford.

Coach Stensland: Absolutely, our players have been recruited by some of the top collegiate soccer programs. Here are just a few of the schools that our scholar athletes have attended in recent years: 

• UCONN
• Louisville
• UC San Diego
• USF
• Lafayette 
• Gettysburg College
• Conn College
• Amherst College
• Howard University
• Bentley College
• Bates College
• Trinity College

Coach Stensland: I coach in order to inspire and empower those around me so that we can achieve our collective and individual goals. I aspire to develop not only better soccer players but more importantly, better people. On the field, my goal is to ensure that each practice is fun and exciting for my players. While every practice should be competitive, I also want to ensure that the players continue to love the game as much as I do.

Coach Stensland: Chemistry. Great chemistry is key between player and coach and great chemistry is needed between player and player. We put a lot of effort into making sure that our team dynamics are bonded together with great chemistry, which is the lifeblood of the Avon Old Farms Brotherhood.

Coach Stensland: First and foremost, there are no shortcuts here at Avon. If you want to play and win, there is no easy way out. You will be expected to train hard—we take the stairs where others take the elevator. My players arrive at practice 10 minutes early and are prepared to work. Our training is much more demanding than the matches, so at game time we are ready to give 100 percent in all situations.

Coach Stensland: Avon has a strong tradition of excellence, and at the end of a season our boys come away with the understanding that success is more than a win-loss record ... they have an understanding that the path to victory, or defeat, is riddled with trials and tribulations. The way in which one prepares and responds to these hurdles defines the character of a man. At Avon Old Farms, we embrace this struggle and make sure our players continually learn lessons that will last a lifetime and help them be successful in the future.