Bermuda Football Association’s (BFA) technical director Derek Broadley has been appointed as the head coach of US team Knoxville Force.Broadley will take charge of the side’s debut season in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) this summer after signing a short-term contract with the club.The Force are currently stepping up their preparations for the coming campaign with Broadley heading to Tennessee next week to attend the side’s player tryouts.He had hoped to prolong his stay on the Island beyond April when his current deal expires but was told back in August that it would not be renewed by the BFA.For Broadley, the move makes sense as it will enable him to rejoin his family who left Bermuda for the US a few months ago.He was recommended to the Force by Mike Kelleher, the development manager for West Ham United’s International Academy a partner of the BFA.“The major reason I’ve signed with the Force is because it really fits in with what my family is doing (in the US),” said Broadley, who coached in the US at Reading Rage before working for the BFA.“It also gives me a bit of breathing space to sort myself out. My family have moved back because of our children’s schooling and the three-month contract will take me up to the next school year. It also gives me a chance to see what it’s like out there.”Broadley will be the Force’s first head coach and he admits he will be going into the new franchise’s inaugural season somewhat “blind”.“I’ve spoken to the owners a few times and I’m excited about the challenge,” he said. “I’m going in a bit blind and that’s the nice bit in some ways.“I’ll not be going in trying to change things as everything I will be doing will be brand new.”The Force play their home matches at the 3,000 capacity Regal Stadium on the campus of the University of Tennessee, which Broadley described as a first class facility.“Their stadium is a state-of-the-art venue and I’m really looking forward to going over there for the tryouts next week,” he added.The NPSL season starts in mid-May and finishes with playoffs and regional and national championship matches at the end of July. Each team plays a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 16 regular season games.The Force also plan to establish a women’s team, the Knoxville Lady Force, in the 2012 season.The NPSL is a rival of the Premier Development League (PDL) and is sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) as an affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).Useful weblinks: www.westhamacademyinternational.com/www.knoxvilleforce.com