When FC Green Bay soccer's director of coaching Wytse Molenaar received a phone call from former University of Wisconsin men's soccer coach Jim Launder a couple of weeks ago, he wasted no time answering Launder's question.

Launder, who guided the Badgers to their only Division I championship in 1995, works as the director of coaching for the Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association, in addition to coaching the Princeton 56ers, an amateur team based in Madison.

As a part of his WYSA duties, Launder travels around the state to share his expertise with youth soccer clubs.

So when Launder asked if FC Green Bay would be interested in a one-night coaching seminar, Molenaar quickly said yes.

"No. 1, it's great for us as coaches," said Molenaar, who is also an assistant at UW-Oshkosh. "It's always great when a guy with his background comes in and not only works with our kids, but also works with our coaches.

"And it's great for the kids because they can get exposed to a coach with a resume like his."

Launder is the winningest coach in Wisconsin men's soccer history with a 193-80-35 record from 1982 to 1996.

Today at Ashwaubomay Park, Launder is scheduled to meet with FC Green Bay, which is the product of last year's merger of the Green Bay Metro and the Green Bay Thunder area club teams.

"I think that merger gives them the ability to bring enough good players together to put together top-level teams," Launder said. "Whereas in the past, players had to determine if they wanted to play with not so good of a team or go down to Milwaukee.

"It gives them the ability to have a team in the Fox Valley area, which I think is very important for soccer in general, and certainly for that area."

While his teaching sessions vary in subject, Launder plans to talk with FC Green Bay's Under-12 and Under-13 boys orange teams, and Under-14 boys blue team about working out of pressure on the soccer field.

Since it formed at the beginning of last year, FC Green Bay's focus has been to provide top-level coaching and competition for gifted players and to prepare them for collegiate and Olympic programs.

Many area college coaches, including UW-Green Bay men's coach Tom Poitras, former UWGB women's coach Quinn Ross and St. Norbert College women's coach Dennis Detrie, take part in the program.

"I like to think that they work with us because they believe in what we do," Molenaar said. "As a director of coaching for a club, I'm very excited for all of our kids that we can offer this to our players with having a coaching staff like we do."

FC Green Bay will be sending some of its teams, including all four that will be working with Launder today, to this weekend's Green Bay Invitational tournament.

The tournament begins Friday and ends Sunday.

For a program that travels all over the Midwest for tournaments, FC Green Bay is thrilled to be playing in one in its backyard.

"I think it's always great to have a tournament in Green Bay," Molenaar said.

"It's probably the one thing that all the clubs do well together is they organize this tournament together, and that of anything is probably the greatest thing of all of it."