Michael Erush (born January 24, 1984) is a former professional soccer player and current soccer coach. He is the Head Men's Soccer Coach at

California State University-Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subn ...

. He was inducted into the

Birmingham Community Charter High School Birmingham Community Charter High School (formerly Birmingham High School) is a charter coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was f ...

Athletic Hall of Fame, and the

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

Athletics Hall of Fame. Erush won a silver medal with Team USA at the

2005 Maccabiah Games The 17th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-17 ישראל תשס"ה), held in Israel, were an incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games, including more than 900 representatives from the Un ...

in Israel. In

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

, he played for the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

(2004),

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

(2005), and

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

(2006). Erush played internationally with

Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל אשקלון, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Ashkelon'') is an Israeli football club based in Ashkelon. The club currently competes in Liga Alef and plays at the 5,250-capacity Sala Stad ...

in Israel, Lombard-Papa TFC in Hungary, and Olimpia Bălţi in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

. He was formerly a coach of the

Loyola Marymount Lions The Loyola Marymount Lions are the athletic teams that represent Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit institution in Los Angeles, California. The school competes in NCAA Division I and the West Coast Conference. Sports sponsored Baseball ...

soccer team.

Early life and personal

Erush is the son of Russian immigrants; his father is Lazar Erush. He was born in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The Nor ...

, and raised in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

, and

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density th ...

. He attended

North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, in ...

as well as

Birmingham High School Birmingham Community Charter High School (formerly Birmingham High School) is a charter coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was ...

. He earned a bachelors degree from

, College of Business Administration (Business Management; '03), and an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from Loyola Marymount University ('10). On May 2, 2015, Erush proposed to Ally Siegel. The couple got married on July 16, 2016. They live in

Studio City, California Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 192 ...

, with their two daughters.

Playing career

Youth career

As a youth player, Erush played for the United States U-14, U-16, and U-18 National teams, and was team captain of the U-14 and U-16 teams from 1996 through 2000, and was part of the USMNT pool in 2001, but was never called up to the senior roster. Erush was honored as the 1999 ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' and ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''D ...

'' All-Region Player of the Year, and was a 2000 NSCAA High School All-America selection from

('00). He was team captain as a junior and senior, three-time All-Northwest Conference, and two-time All-

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

and All- West Valley League, as well as

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honorable mention as a senior. He was inducted into the Birmingham Community Charter Athletic Hall of Fame.

College

Erush was a

Lions men's soccer standout, a four-time All-

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

(WCC) selection (2000, 2001, 2002), was named First Team in 2003, and served as team captain during his junior and senior seasons. He was named First Team

National Soccer Coaches Association of America The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 3 ...

All Far West Selection in 2002, and was named First Team

by the ''

Jewish Sports Review ''Jewish Sports Review (JSR)'' is a bi-monthly magazine that was established in 1997. Its editors are Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman. The magazine identifies which star and professional athletes are Jewish. It also covers and has all-time lists ...

'' in 2003. During his last three years, he helped the Lions advance to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Tournament, and in 2003 finished in a first-round bye and national seeding (#13) in the postseason. He was inducted into the Loyola Marymount Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.

Professional

Erush played in

for the

(2004),

(2005), and

(2006). He played internationally for

in Israel, Lombard-Papa TFC in Hungary, and Olimpia Bălţi in

International

In 2005 Erush competed on Team USA in the

in Israel, where the team went on to win a silver medal.

Coaching

In January 2007 Erush was hired as an assistant coach to

Paul Krumpe Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

with the men's

soccer team at

. In 2014, he was promoted to Associate Head Coach, and remained in that position through 2018. Erush, having played with the amateur

Hollywood United Hollywood United is an American amateur soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1988, the team plays in Region IV of the United States Adult Soccer Association, a network of amateur leagues at the fifth tier of th ...

team in Los Angeles for several years, was hired as the first-ever head coach of the

Hollywood United Hitmen Hollywood United Hitmen was an American soccer team based in Los Angeles. The team was founded in 2009 and played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and the USL Premier Development League (PDL). The team played its home games in Cougar ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

in 2009. He moved to become head coach of the

Orange County Blue Star Orange County Blue Star was an American soccer team based in Irvine, California. Founded in 1997, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southwest Division of the Wester ...

in 2010. That year he also headed up the USA team that competed at the Maccabiah Australia International Games, winning the silver medal. From 2009 to 2014 Erush also coached the South Bay Force and the Fram Soccer Club. From 2011 to 2015, Erush was a

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

Southern California Scout, and evaluated, developed, and scouted youth players for the U.S. national teams. In 2014, he joined the

L.A. Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

Academy Youth Staff. In December 2015, Erush served as the soccer Head Coach for the Maccabiah Pan Am games in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

. He served as Head Coach for soccer for Team USA for the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Since 2018 Erush has been the Head Men's Soccer Coach of the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles at

. The coaching staff that he was part of was named the 2021 Coaching Staff of the Year by the

United Soccer Coaches The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

References

External links

Coaching profile from LMU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erush, Michael 1983 births Living people American people of Russian-Jewish descent American soccer players Association football defenders Birmingham High School alumni Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles men's soccer California State University, Los Angeles faculty Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games CSF Bălți players Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish footballers Lombard-Pápa TFC footballers Loyola Marymount Lions men's soccer coaches Loyola Marymount Lions men's soccer players Maccabiah Games medalists in football Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States People from North Hollywood, Los Angeles People from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles People from Studio City, Los Angeles People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles Soccer players from Los Angeles USL First Division players USL League Two players Orange County Blue Star players Colorado Rapids players Chivas USA players Miami FC (2006) players Hollywood United players 21st-century American Jews