Sul Ross State University has hired its first head women's soccer coach
ALPINE, TX- Sul Ross State University has hired its first head women's soccer coach.
Don Koontz, who served as head coach for both the men's and women's soccer programs the University of the Southwest in Hobbs, NM for the last four seasons, will join the Lobos' staff in preparation for the inaugural season of Sul Ross State women's soccer, which is scheduled for the fall of 2015.
A native of Conroe, TX, in the Houston, TX area, Koontz starred in track and field at Conroe High School, ranking among the top 10 runners nationally at 800 meters and in the mile. He went on to run after earning a track and field scholarship at Texas Tech, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Sports Science in 1997.
While competing for the Red Raiders, Koontz also was a member of the TTU men's club soccer program. "I started coaching soccer for a men's travel team as the fitness and technical director," said Koontz, who also started the Blitz, a youth soccer club. Koontz also has coached the Texas Tech women's soccer club, was the director of soccer for the Arizona Sports Ranch in Paradise Valley, AZ, and has been a coach in the New Mexico Olympic Development Program for the past four years.
In addition to playing for Texas Tech, Koontz, a midfielder, played for the Lubbock United States Adult Soccer Association Open Cup teams between 1994 and 1998. He went on to play with the Arizona Sahuaros, the Division III affiliate of the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, serving as captain in 2002. In 2003, the Sahuaros won the National Professional Soccer League championship, and finished as the runner-up the following season.
Koontz, who is a member of both the United States Soccer Federation and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and holds a USSF "A" coaching license, began his collegiate coaching career as the head men's soccer coach at the University of the Southwest in Hobbs, NM. A year and a half later, he was coaching both the men's and women's teams, and led them both to success.
"In 2013, both teams (at USW) made it to the semi-finals of the conference championships after finishing in the top three," said Koontz. "Both teams lost to the eventual champions. We turned both programs around, and, if they get the right person, they should be able to continue being successful."
The Lobos are pleased that Koontz is joining the staff. "Don has been a head soccer coach and has recruiting ties in West Texas, therefore I believe he will be a great fit for us as we start our women's soccer program," said Sul Ross State Interim Director of Athletics Bobby Mesker.
The Lobos will begin building the program as a club this fall and will become a varsity in the fall of 2015.
"I really like building programs from scratch, and that was the situation at Southwest, we had to re-establish the program," said Koontz. "I'm excited about starting the program at Sul Ross from scratch; I think it's a great location to recruit people from San Antonio, El Paso and west Texas. I think Sul Ross is a diamond in the rough, it's a great school with a great history, and Sul Ross is in the right location. Sul Ross will give players from the area another option, and I plan on recruiting every last one of them."
