At first glance, the 2024 USL League One Final between Union Omaha and Spokane Velocity FC brings together two clubs with differing current profiles.

On one side there is Union Omaha, which has become the most successful club in the league’s six-season history in short order. After winning consecutive Players’ Shield titles, Los Búhos have four pieces of silverware in five seasons and would become the first team to win the league title twice should they take victory on home turf on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET | CBS Sports Golazo Network/ SiriusXM).

On the other there is Spokane Velocity, which in its first season earned a postseason berth as the No. 7 seed after experiencing the understandable ups and downs of an expansion club, but then pulled off two major road upsets against Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC and Forward Madison FC to join Omaha as the only two teams to reach a League One Final in their inaugural season.

Look more closely, though, and you can see the similarities between the organizations, not least that of their Head Coaches.

Both Omaha’s Dominic Casciato and Spokane’s Leigh Veidman hail from England, are both under the age of 40, and have each taken the experiences they’ve gained in North American soccer to guide their current clubs to success.

Here’s how each forged a path to success in the coaching ranks.

College Foundation

As young players in England in the 2000s, Casciato and Veidman were pursuing their passion for the game as players when the opportunity to play in the United States first arrived.

For each, it proved a pivotal moment.

“It was a breath of fresh air,” said Casciato, who was a freshman at Limestone University in South Carolina in 2006. “I’d been playing in what’s now the National League back in England, where the game can be quite direct. As a defender, you were just expected to head in and kind of dump the ball into the channel, which was never really my game. So, I think coming over to the U.S., seeing some of the facilities, some of the quality of the coaching I had, it really opened my eyes to how I could get better and better.”

For Veidman, the process wasn’t quite as smooth. Joining the program at Iowa Western University in 2008, the Liverpool native flunked out in his freshman year, losing his scholarship in the process. Returning home during the middle of the recession, work was scarce, and it took assistance from Veidman’s local education council to get him back on track in Iowa, teaching him a valuable lesson in the process.

“I was very, very fortunate in that somebody at home believed in me, my local city council, and they provided funds to support me, to pay for the classes that I failed, and also to support me to retake the classes so I could regain my scholarship,” said Veidman. “I was able to get back into school. I was able to pass all the classes that I failed. I was able to get my scholarship back. From then on out, I realized that student-athlete was in that order for a reason.”

Pursuing the Professional Dream

While competing at Limestone, Casciato got a chance to experience what the professional ranks looked like in the United States in that era. A three-hour drive away from Charleston, he and his roommate would drive south to watch the Battery, particularly during preseason and the Carolina Challenge Cup, which annually brought MLS clubs to the Low Country.

Veidman, on the other hand, elected to remain in the United States to pursue his professional aspirations. He remained active – including competing for the Toronto Lynx and Des Moines Menace in USL League Two – but his international status provided a major stumbling block in earning a professional deal.

“I probably tried a little longer than I should have playing [League Two],” said Veidman. “I think I was in my mid-20s at that point and kept trying to make it happen. But, you know, as an international with no pro experience, it was always hard to get that international spot. I was told by about five clubs, ‘yeah, but you don’t have a visa, it’s not going to work out.’”

For both Veidman and Casciato, the career crossroads had arrived.

Entering the Coaching Ranks

While Veidman’s pursuit of a playing career stretched into his mid-20s, there was always the knowledge he’d be a coach one day. Having taken his first coaching course as a 16-year-old before moving to the United States, it was an opportunity that he was equally as passionate about as playing.

“I coached [while I was a player] and continued to work up from the foundation, kids just getting into the game, into ODP, into middle school, high school, just kind of working up,” said Veidman. “I think naturally, when you’ve got the desire to be a professional footballer, and you don’t make it, in many ways, you want to stay in the game because you have a passion for it.”

For Casciato, it took a little more persuading. During his career at Limestone, Head Coach Eric Alsop and assistant Ben Shepherd told Casciato he should look into coaching if a professional career didn’t come to pass, only for Casciato to politely brush off their suggestion.

After he suffered an injury while competing in Iceland, however, it proved a turning point toward his future.

“I had a long period of reflection in terms of thinking like, ‘what is it I want to do with my life?’” said Casciato. “I started to come to the realization I couldn’t really live without the game, and I had to be involved in some capacity. Everybody I’d spoken to – ex-teammates, ex-coaches, other people that were close to me, family members, friends – they all said to me, ‘look, Dom, you’ve got to be a coach, man. You’re obsessed with the game. You’re always watching it, you’re always studying.’

“I was really, really fortunate when I started to be persuaded to consider coaching as a career. A job came up at St John’s University as a graduate assistant, and I went and worked with Dave Masur, alongside Jeff Matteo and Ben Mallue. That was really a great introduction to high level coaching.”

A Brush With (Future) Greatness

As he joined the staff St. John’s University, Casciato got to work with some notable future professionals, including current New England Revolution center back Tim Parker. Through his connection with Matteo, however, he also joined the staff at then USL League Two side Jersey Express when one of the league’s current best-known alums joined up for the 2014 season – current United States Men’s National Team goalkeeper Matt Turner.

“I'm not going to try and take any credit for Matt's progress,” said Casciato with a laugh. “[Jeff] created a great environment with that USL League Two team. He gave me a lot of responsibility in terms of running training sessions, helping my scouting, game preparation, all that sort of thing, but he created this environment that everybody wanted to be part of. Everybody loved playing for Jeff, and Matt was no different.”

It was a lesson Casciato would carry with him as his own coaching path unfolded

Making the Leap

Having worked for the Des Moines Menace in USL League Two and in the youth ranks, Veidman’s first opportunity in the professional ranks came at Fresno FC in the USL Championship in 2019. As prepared as he felt he was to step in, the experience taught him a lot.

“The first year in in the Championship as a coach, I felt comfortable, but there was a lot about the environment and about the league that I needed to learn and about management of people and professional players,” he said. “We had Juan Pablo Caffa in the team at that time, who had played in LaLiga for Real Betis and scored against Real Madrid, and then you’ve got guys who are first-year pros in the team. How to handle different people in different contexts was a massive learning curve.”

Casciato, meanwhile, made a leap of faith back across the Atlantic Ocean to Spain, where he landed in Barcelona to try and expand his horizons. He was hired as a youth coach at Espanyol, and quickly took a crash course in Spanish and the culture around soccer in the country.

“I wanted to test myself,” said Casciato. “I’d been recognized by United Soccer Coaches – they had an initiative for young coaches called 30 Under 30, which was supposed to help develop young coaches like myself – and I was in that program for a year, and I thought, ‘this is great, but how do I keep this going?’”

His time in Spain was a key moment for Casciato, who immersed himself in the sport at all levels while also learning the language and from those around him at Espanyol.

“I saw a lot of football while I was in Spain, from the third, fourth division, up to watching Barcelona, watching [Real] Betis, and watching Espanyol train pretty regularly,” he said. “I think the biggest thing I took from that was probably confidence in terms of, not that I was working at the same level these guys, but a lot of my ideas I was seeing being done in Spain.

“To me, having always been a big fan of Spanish football, I’ve been around some really good Spanish coaches as well, and I always thought of their development of coaches and implementation of ideas and training methodology as one of the best around. Being there, seeing people do the exercise I was doing, or trying to play in the way I wanted to play, gave me a lot of confidence I was on the right track.”

Veidman, meanwhile, headed to OKC Energy FC as his development as a coach continued. In 2021, he led a professional club for the first time as interim Head Coach and posted an even 8-8-9 record. After OKC went on hiatus, he joined Charleston Battery Head Coach Ben Pirmann’s staff in 2023 and got to live through the turnaround the Battery experienced that led to the club winning the Eastern Conference title last year.

“It was a rebuild in many ways last year, and we thought we had a good team,” said Veidman. “We had a great group of guys, and we knew that before, and as the year went on, we started to learn more about the team and what we were capable of and what we could do.

“It was a constant learning of what we had at our disposal, and the connection here for me and the biggest thing to relate was the group of guys we had in the locker room, an incredible group of guys who were hungry to prove themselves, to win, just a coachability, a growth mindset, a humility about them that was just always want to improve every day.”

Taking the Helm

Despite the similarities between their paths and backgrounds, Casciato and Veidman’s first real encounter didn’t arrive until 2021. Having returned to the United States from Spain, Casciato had joined the staff at El Paso Locomotive FC when Veidman was interim Head Coach in Oklahoma City as the sides squared off late in the regular season.

In League One, however, they’ve each found a place to thrive.

Casciato became the second Head Coach in Omaha’s history prior to the 2023 season and took a side that had already made its mark in the league to greater heights. Over the past two regular seasons, Los Buhos have won a league-high 34 times in claiming consecutive Players’ Shields. The side has also averaged 2.09 points-per-game, up from an average of 1.66ppg in its first three seasons.

“I wanted to try and implement my own ideas and style,” said Casciato. “I wanted to try and see if I could do that. You know, as a head coach myself at a professional level, I've done it previously as a Head Coach in the NPSL and then with Jeff in USL League Two implementing my own ideas successfully, and obviously help the club continue to be successful in the way they had before I joined. Thankfully, we’ve been able to do that.”

Veidman, meanwhile, led Spokane through an inaugural season with ups and downs, but undeniable growth as the club and the USL Super League’s Spokane Zephyr have been embraced at ONE Spokane Stadium.

“[It’s essential] making sure that you bring in not just good players that can help you win, but good people can help you develop the culture that you want to develop,” added Casciato. “I think if you look at our team this year, we’ve got some of the best attacking players I think that have ever played in this league – guys like Stephen Dos Santos, Lagos Kunga, Aaron Gomez, Zeiko Lewis. I could be here all day talking about these guys, but it’s a tremendous amount of quality where these guys are all willing and able to work for the team, from the first whistle to the last whistle.”

A Star at Stake

Now, there’s one game left to be played, a trophy on the line, and history beckoning for both clubs.

Spokane would both become the first team to win the League One title in its inaugural season, and the lowest seed to lift the trophy in the postseason should it come out on top. With players who’ve competed at high levels – including former United States international Luis Gil – the underdog label is one that’s helping keep the side loose this postseason.

“You can’t get away from it,” said Veidman. “Hailstorm, Madison, both at home, both in front of their fans, both the higher ranked team, both very good teams, well coached, but the pressure was slightly more on them, and that's the reality of it. So, the boys went into both of those games very relaxed and understanding that externally, we see they’re the favorites externally, we know we’re the underdogs, and externally, people don't really expect a lot of us to be candid.

“But I’ll tell you this is that internally, this group believes in themselves, in each other, a lot more than people realize, and they fully believe they can go out and win this thing, and so they should, because they’ve already beaten two incredibly tough teams.”

• READ MORE: John Morrissey’s Tactical Guide to the 2024 USL League One Final

For Omaha and Casciato, earning a third Players’ Shield in the regular season showed how consistently good the side could be, but adding a second star to the crest has been the objective.

“We want another star,” said Casciato. “This would be a validation on our season. It would be validation of the work that we do day in and day out, and how hard the players have worked this season. I think winning on Sunday would be a validation for all of our efforts this year and something we’re doing everything we can to make sure we achieve.”

For both young coaches, it would also add another keynote moment to their rising coaching careers.