Valparaiso men’s soccer coach Mike Avery announced today that Rick King has been hired as an assistant coach for the Crusader program.  King comes to Valpo after spending the 2006 season as a volunteer assistant at Notre Dame, where he helped guide the Fighting Irish to the Elite 8 of the NCAA College Cup.

King was responsible for training and coaching the goalkeepers while at Notre Dame.  Under his tutelage, Irish netminders gave up just 19 goals in 23 matches last year and registered 13 shutouts.

King also has served as the director of soccer operations for the Indiana Invaders club program for the past year, and was the head coach of the Invaders’ Professional Development League (PDL) squad this summer.  With the Invaders, King directed and managed all aspects of Club programs for player development.  He also selected and coached a 26-man roster of national college players to compete in the United Soccer League PDL division, including current Crusaders Tyler Pagano and Clifton Brown.

Prior to arriving in Indiana, King served as the director of goalkeeping at the Carrollton Soccer Association and New Orleans Soccer Academy for three years apiece.  He also spent five years as the president and owner of the Connecticut Soccer School, and spent five seasons as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Western Connecticut State University.  In addition, King played one season for the Connecticut Wolves of the USISL A-League.

King played on the soccer team at the University of Massachusetts in 1987 and 1988 before transferring to East Stroudsburg State University, playing there during the 1991 campaign.  He graduated from East Stroudsburg in 1995.

"This is a great addition to our program," said Avery regarding King.  "I am thrilled that Rick has agreed to come on board and partner with me as we build this program.  Rick is a very positive personality, a great teacher and brings valuable experience as a coach and as a player to the table.  He fits our needs very well and we welcome him to the program."