This will be my tenth year of coaching the Girard High School Girls Soccer.  I have been coaching at the high school level for 14 years, also coaching with the Erie Strikers Soccer Club, Erie Admirals Soccer Club, and Erie Lightning Soccer Club.  I have previously held coaching positions at Fairview, Iroquois, Villa Maria, and McDowell.  I hold both a NSCAA National Coaching Diploma and a USSF “D” Coaching license. 

I am employed with the Erie Water Works as a SCADA Technician.  I have been happily married for 29 years to my wonderful and understanding wife, Mary Anne.  We have two children, a daughter Michele who is 27 years old and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a son, Michael, who is 25 and recently graduated from Penn State Behrend. Michele played soccer at the collegiate level for Edinboro University.  She has a degree in Elementary Education and Special Education with a minor in Psychology and is currently a teacher for special needs children for the Wake County School District.  She is presently working on her Masters Degree as a Behavioral Specialist.  Michael obtained a degree in Accounting and Finance, and currently works for Presque Isle Downs as a Revenue Auditor.  He plans on getting his MBA in the spring.  

This marks my fourth season with the Girard Girls Soccer Team, as the Assistant Varsity Coach and Head JV Coach. I first started as a Volunteer Assistant Coach with both the girls’ and boys’ teams during the 2007 season, and I have been the Head JV Coach since the 2008 season.

I graduated from Girard High in 2006, having been a member of the Girard Boys Soccer Team for my four-year career at GHS. I am currently a fifth-year senior at Edinboro University of PA, majoring in Secondary Education with a specialization in Social Studies and minors in Geography and History. I’ll be finishing up my final few classes this fall during the season and will complete my Student Teaching in the spring before graduating in May 2011.

Like I have said, I have had experience coaching both the Girard Boys and Girard Girls teams over the past four seasons – in which my most memorable moment as a coach was taking the Girard Boys team to a runner-up finish (after losing to Central in the finals) in the winter of 2008 at Family First Sports Park in my debut as a head coach.

I hope to make more of those memorable moments as we progress throughout the 2010 season. I will expect nothing but being the best from my team – both on and off the field – and I am certainly looking forward to having a great season at both the JV and Varsity level.