Soccer
Welcome and thanks for visiting...
Hello to All You Future Lionel Messi’s, and Jurgen Klopp Wannabes
What a time to be making my debut on this site!
I am sure you are all handling this Covid-19 era as best as possible and staying safe and healthy. Youth soccer in the USA is starting to open back up, while most school teams are still on standby.
This week we should be opening our 2020 season with a home match against Ithaca College, and looking forward to defending our 2019 conference championship. Instead, the NCAA has canceled the entire season. We will be practicing, which we hope to start in mid-September, but it will be tough having no competitive games to work towards.
I was hoping to invite you along to join our team through the next 3 months to enjoy the trials and tribulations of our season. Sadly, that is no longer possible, but I will try my best to make this blog as informative (and entertaining) as possible!
For a quick background on myself, I am currently the head soccer coach at SUNY Oneonta, in upstate New York. I was born into a soccer family with my father playing in England and Scotland for 20 years before relocating to South Africa to end his career. I did my schooling in Durban before playing professionally with Durban City and then Arcadia in Pretoria. I relocated to the USA in 1985, coached club programs in Georgia and Florida, before settling in Oneonta in upstate New York in 1998.
I was the assistant coach for six years and have been the head coach for the past sixteen years. Oneonta was a division I program for my first six years (two as the head coach) before we reclassified to division III in 2004 (no….it was not because of my poor coaching!). Oneonta has captured six conference titles in the last nine years and made three appearances in the NCAA Division III Final Four.
So, what can you look forward to in these coming months? With 24 years of college coaching experience, I will be looking to pass along my knowledge on many topics including:
· Choosing a College
· The differences between Division I, Division II, and Division III colleges
· Preparing for Preseason
· Soccer Scholarships
· From College to the Pros
· Life as a Student Athlete
· Interviews with College Coaches
· Interviews with College Players
· Other topics requested by readers
Highlight of the Week
Questions
I would be happy to answer questions you have about college soccer in the USA. Please send me your best AUBA (shot) to iain.byrne@oneonta.edu
