VIRGINIA BEACH (WTKR) — Chris Mills was facing a situation he hadn't dealt with for quite some time.
After a 10-year stint as the head coach of Virginia Wesleyan men's soccer, Mills was looking a summer without heading to the pitch.
That thought was short-lived.
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"My wife told me, this is my first summer off and she said, 'You're not going to sit around the house all summer, you've got to get a summer job,'" he said. "And literally that week, (Virginia Beach United) reached out to me and I said, 'Let's do it, I'm all in.'"
The conversation proving that a wife always knows best.
Mills has helped lead Virginia Beach United to a 5-1-1 record to start the 2024 season. Since it first started playing in 2019, United has never finished better than third in its division and has yet to qualify for a USL League Two postseason.
With five games left to play in the division, United sits just three points shy of first place, which is held by Lionsbridge.
"We want to win. (Mills) brought in a winning culture to the team," said midfielder and Kellam alum Cooper Kieran. "He's stressed winning and there's no moral victories here. We're out to win every game and show the fans what we're about."
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Part of the winning formula has been a roster filled with Hampton Roads college players or former high school stars coming back to suit up for their hometown team.
"I think we have within our group, every single youth club in the area, our guys have been a part of at some point in their journey," Mills said. "They developed here."
"We grew up playing here, watching the Mariners and VB City play here," said Alexander Moody, a midfielder and Churchland product. "And now we get to play on the field our heroes played on."
The athletes that are from the area are no strangers to the comparisons to their rivals from Newport News. In 2023, Lionsbridge FC made it all the way to the USL League Two championship game. They've qualified for the last three postseasons and are vying for a fourth straight trip to the playoffs.
That standard motivates United to do everything it can to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
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"Setting an example that the Beach kids can do it would be really exciting too," Moody said.
They won't let the comparisons rob them of the joy they're experiencing this season. VBU can sense how close it is to doing something it's organization has yet to.
"It's something worth thinking about. It's very important to recognize history and how we've done in the past," Kieran said. "We're exited to move this thing forward, take care of results, and hopefully win this thing."
Virginia Beach United faces the Virginia Marauders on Wednesday night with a showdown at Lionsbridge looming on July 6.
As the team sets a new norm for groups to follow, Mills can admit that taking that summer job was the right call.
"It was my first summer without college soccer and now here I am working longer hours than I was before," he joked. "But I really enjoy it, this group of guys are fun to be around."
