Women's Soccer vs. UCLA - Aug 13th 7:00pm

Dressed to Impress!!

Coach John decided to dress the part on his first day in the women's soccer office. It may not have been voluntary, but he sure cleans up from the normal soccer apparel. Coach Mel and Coach Tucker decided to play a clever trick for John's first day. John was informed that he had a big meeting to go to and needed to come into the office in a suit! Naively he believed the women on staff and came in ready for his big meeting! Needless to say the female coaches put a point on the board. Now John is asking for a soccer tennis match so he can redeem a point on the coaches board. He has challenged both Mel and Tucker vs. him. We will keep you posted on the results.........

July Soccer Camp

A big thank you to all of the parents and kids that participated in last weeks camp to make it a huge success! The weather cooperated perfectly to allow for a very successful week. We look forward to seeing you again next year and for many years to come! To those parents who returned campers, thank you for your continued loyalty. To those parents who sent their child for the first time, you should know that your son or daughter's safety and well being are our top priority. We hope that you feel that your child received professional instruction from a team of outstanding coaches. Again, thank you for attending the CSUB Soccer Camp and we are looking forward to seeing you at a future camp!!

Don’t forget to come out and support the Men and Women’s soccer teams this fall season! The Women open with UCLA at Roadrunner field on Saturday, August 13th at 7pm.

Smith and Tucker Complete Coaching Staff

Head women's soccer coach Melissa Phillips will return former Roadrunner men’s and women’s assistant John Smith to Bakersfield for the upcoming 2011-12 season. Smith coached at CSUB from 1999-2006 before taking over as head coach the last four seasons at the University of the Icarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. At UIW, Smith led the Cardinal’s men’s soccer program to a 62-22-7 record including three conference championships and 3 NCAA Division II Regional Tournament appearances.

A native of Wigan, England, Smith played professionally both overseas and in the United States becoming the first foreign player ever drafted out of college when he was selected with the 13th pick in the 1997 Major League Soccer Draft by the Columbus Crew. While playing at Rollins College in Florida, Smith was a Division II All-American and the Tars’ all-time career points leader with 142 and was inducted in 2003 to the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame.

“I was fortunate enough to have coached here five years ago and to be honest with you this school and this program has never left me,” Smith said. “When this opportunity came up it was going to take something good for me to leave where I was at and this was just too good of an opportunity for me to turn down and I jumped at the opportunity really.”

Joining Smith on the women’s soccer staff will be former Roadrunner player Leanne Tucker. Tucker was a four-year letter winner at CSUB from 2006-2010 making 11 starts as a defender during her senior year playing in 1,156 minutes for the Roadrunners. A native of Cambridge, England, Tucker’s defense-first mentality as a player will serve as a key area of responsibility as an assistant coach along with recruiting and other daily operations of the program.

While this will mark her first collegiate coaching opportunity, Tucker is no stranger to the coaching ranks, having not only obtained several national licenses, but also serving as an assistant with Bakersfield’s Centennial High School last season as well as being the head coach of the Runner United U-14 FC club team.

“This is a pretty amazing opportunity, I played here for four years and absolutely loved it,” said Tucker. “Mel’s a great new head coach and she’s been putting a lot of time and effort into the program so all I want to do now is come in and further the team more, make them better and see what we can do this season.”

Tucker graduated with honors with a degree in physical education and kinesiology at CSUB and is currently pursuing her master’s in special education.

“John and Tucker both bring unique ideas and something fresh and something new from to the direction that we’ve been going with this program,” said Phillips. “John’s been a head coach so he has a lot of experience in that area and Tucker was a great leader on the team and one of our captains so both of them have a lot of different ideas about how we can move forward and both of them have an excellent knowledge of the game so I’m very excited to have them on board.”

CSUB women’s soccer opens up play for the 2011 season August 13, hosting an exhibition against UCLA at the Main Soccer Field.

June Soccer Camp

A big thank you to all of the parents and kids that participated in last week's camp to make it a huge success! Last week's camp recorded over 140 kids, which is the second most successful camp that Cal State Soccer has ever had. We look forward to seeing you again in mid July as well as next year! To those parents who returned campers, thank you for your continued loyalty. To thos parents who sent their child for the first time, you should know that your son or daughter's safety and well being are our top priority. We hope that you feel that your child received professional instruction from a team of outstanding coaches. Again, thank you for attending the CSUB Soccer Camp and we are looking forward to seeing you at a future camp! Remember the best way to say thank you to the staff of coaches is support our teams this coming fall. Both schedules can be found at gorunners.com. An album of pictures will be up shortly on here and gorunners.

Don't forget to register for the July 11-15 Camp!

Thanks again!