New accusations arise against deposed Modesto youth soccer employee, including coup attempt
More accusations against a deposed Modesto Youth Soccer Association employee have been made after he traded barbs with an attorney during a board meeting earlier this month.
Former MYSA/AJAX director of coaching Mitch Watson was fired after he allegedly forgave over $35,000 in unpaid club dues — some from players on his own team — without authorization.
Watson is accused of manipulating an election to stack the organization’s board with his supporters while he was under investigation. When the election didn’t go his way, he then allegedly tried to launch a coup to unseat the board that fired him and reinstate himself in the process.
That effort at a December meeting crumbled under legal pressure. He instead used the time to deny accusations against him and make accusations against the board.
Watson, and his supporter Ryan Daley, seemingly convinced the crowd of more than 100 people that there were board transparency issues and that they should attend the board’s meeting on Jan. 6.
While only about 40 people showed up to that meeting, Marcus Riposas, who took over as director of coaching after Watson was fired, said it was one of the largest meetings he’d seen.
Over the course of the January meeting, Riposas expressed that had there been this much civic participation in the organization’s processes, this whole situation may have been avoided.
The meeting itself was contentious at times. During its public comment period, people wanted to know how to hold a new election, if certain programs were going to continue, how the organization was doing as a whole and if they could access minutes and agendas from past meetings.
One of the accusations Watson and his supporters have made was that the board was withholding agendas and minutes of meetings related to the election and Watson’s firing.
But at the January meeting, Stacey Henderson, an attorney representing the board, said the safekeeping of these documents was Watson’s responsibility during his tenure as director of coaching. She alleged that when Watson was fired, he wiped the work laptop containing the documents. Watson denied this.
The meeting became contentious when certain questions couldn’t be answered. Henderson cited legal reasons to staying quiet on what was asked.
“As frustrating as it is for all of us sitting up here who were involved in meeting with (Watson) and making a decision about what to do with Mitch and how to proceed, as much as we would love to share all of that information with you, we’re respecting (Watson’s right to privacy. Without authorization to go into all those details, we’re just limited by the law,” said Henderson.
Watson then tried to waive his right to privacy so Henderson could answer questions publicly. She refused to accept that and accused Watson of baiting her to do something that could be used in a lawsuit.
Watson denied having legal counsel. But Henderson alleged that he did and that she’d received emails from them. Watson also asked those who attended the December meeting to inform him of accusations so that he could “develop that case.”
Another accusation by Watson and his supporters is that he facilitated programs that were either created or in the negotiation state.
Members were concerned that Watson’s termination might mean these programs would be cut. Or that deals Watson was working on would not come to fruition. Watson and Daley said overturning the board and reinstating Watson would ensure this wouldn’t happen.
However, at the board’s Jan. 6 meeting, it announced that MLS Next, a program Watson said might not happen, offered a full pathway to MYSA/AJAX. MLS Next is a high-level youth soccer program designed to provide a pathway to becoming a professional soccer player.
Watson also took credit for the financial stability of the organization — raising its purse from $274,000 to over $1 million.
Riposas acknowledged that its financial standing is much better than it was before Watson’s tenure, which ran from March 2022 to November 2024. There was no mention of who was responsible.
An election to vote in new members and reinstate Watson as director of coaching still seemed to interest his supporters at the Jan. 6 meeting. However, one-third of members would need to petition to hold a vote, according to its bylaws. MYSA/AJAX has approximately 5,000 members.
According to a MYSA/AJAX statement of allegations, Watson misled voters during the board’s most recent election. He sent a notice to members saying there were three open spots on the board, when there were actually five. He received applications from three new candidates and did not tell anyone on the board. Watson was trying to stack the board with his supporters, including Daley — who was elected.
The board maintains there are other things Watson did that cannot be released to the public but that he “exceeded his authority and misled the Board when questioned about it” and that an investigation by the board “revealed a pattern and practice of keeping information from the board and/or misleading the board,” particularly on issues that could have resulted in “significant exposure of risk to the club.”
