Mike Avery (born September 19, 1968) is an American

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach, and former player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He is the head coach and sporting director of

USL League Two 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 ...

club

Fort Wayne FC Fort Wayne Football Club is a pre-professional soccer club in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. The club currently competes in the Valley Division of the USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Fort Wayne FC played hom ...

. A native of

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, Avery played collegiately at

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

. The Warriors won four

Golden State Athletic Conference The Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Mike Daniels. Conference leadership is shared among the membe ...

titles during his time at the school and thrice qualified for the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

tournament. After graduating, he spent four years at the senior level, split between

Real Santa Barbara Real Santa Barbara was a former soccer team. The name ''real'', meaning ''royal'', came from Spanish teams (as in '' Real Madrid''), just like current MLS club Real Salt Lake. The club played in the city of Santa Barbara, California. It was active ...

and Askims IK. Avery also had a spell as a player-coach with

Indiana Invaders The Indiana Invaders was an American soccer team based in South Bend, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1998, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes Divisi ...

. Avery went into coaching in 1994, spending three years as the men's head coach at

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...

and being named the first head coach in the history of the Pilots' women's program. He spent three years as the director of soccer at

Cal State San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

, coaching both the men's and women's teams at times during that spell. Avery was then an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

assistant for the next seven years, spending six years at Notre Dame and one at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. In 2007, Avery was named as the head coach at Valparaiso. He is the all-time winningest head coach in Crusader history, spending 13 years in the position before the program was discontinued by the university. After leaving Valpo, Avery moved to the senior level for the first time and was named as the inaugural head coach in Fort Wayne FC history.

Playing career

College

Born on September 19, 1968, in

, Avery began playing soccer at the age of four with his neighborhood team, Las Pulgas. He went on to play at

between 1986 and 1989. During his time at the school, the

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

appeared in the

(NAIA) national tournament three times. As a freshman, Avery tallied six goals and six assists in 24 appearances as Westmont won the

(GSAC) during their first year in the conference. The Warriors repeated as conference champions in 1987, with Avery chipping in seven goals and 11 assists from 21 appearances on his way to an all-GSAC nod. As a junior, he tallied four goals and six assists from 23 games and was again named all-GSAC as Westmont won their third consecutive conference title. He put up eight goals and 11 assists in 24 games as a senior, with the Warriors winning another GSAC title and making a run to the semifinals of the NAIA Tournament. Avery was named an Honorable Mention All-American following the season, capping off a career in which he scored 25 goals in 92 appearances for Westmont and was named to the NAIA All-Far West team four times.

Senior career

Following his graduation from Westmont, Avery turned professional by signing for

in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

and played for the club during their final season of existence. After the club folded, Avery moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and appeared with Askims IK. In later years, he also spent time in the

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

with

, playing as well as serving in an undisclosed coaching role with the club.

Coaching career

Avery began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Westmont, his alma mater. Following his time in Sweden, he returned to the United States to pursue a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in 1922 as ...

. While studying for the degree, he also served as an assistant coach for the men's soccer team.

1994–1999: Early head coaching jobs

In the fall of 1994, Avery was hired to his first head coaching position, getting the job at Bethel College in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He turned down an offer to be an assistant at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, saying that he wanted "to work in a Christian atmosphere." He spent three seasons in charge of the

Pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, racking up a record of 42-21-4. In Avery's first year, the Pilots finished with a 10-9-1 record, including a 9–0 victory over

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

in his first match in charge. In 1995, the Pilots finished with 15 victories, their most since 1989; Avery was named as the

National Christian College Athletic Association The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athletic co ...

(NCCAA) North Central Region Coach of the Year and Mid-Central College Conference (MCCC) Coach of the Year. He repeated as MCCC Coach of the Year in 1996 as the Pilots posted the best record in program history at 17-4-1. Avery also took charge of the Bethel women's soccer team in 1996 as the first head coach in program history. In 1997, Avery was hired as the director of soccer at

California State University, San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

. In his first year with the

Coyotes The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

, he was in charge of the men's program. Avery earned his first victory at CSUSB on September 20, after six consecutive losses to start the season, with a 2–1 victory over Midwestern State. During Avery's tenure, the Coyote men's program improved their record each season. He tallied a record of 17-39-2 during his three years in charge of the team. In both 1998 and 1999, Avery also was the head coach of the women's soccer team at CSUSB. His first victory with the Coyote women came on September 9, 1998, a 2–1 win on the road against

Cal State Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Bake ...

. In both of Avery's seasons in charge, the Coyote women finished with eight victories as he departed with a record of 16-22-2.

2000–2006: Division I assistant roles

Following the 1999 season, Avery was offered an assistant coaching position at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, on the staff of

Mike Berticelli Mike Berticelli (April 26, 1951 – January 25, 2000) as an American college soccer coach. From 1990 to 1999, he served as the head men's soccer coach at the University of Notre Dame, where he compiled a 104–80–19(.559) record. He led the F ...

. However, Berticelli died on January 25, 2000, shortly after Avery had resigned at Cal State San Bernardino. Nearly two months later, on March 17, 2000, new

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

head coach Chris Apple officially confirmed that Avery would still be joining the staff at Notre Dame. Avery spent six years at the school, one year under Apple and five years under Bobby Clark. He, Clark, and

Brian Wiese Brian Wiese is the head men's soccer coach at Georgetown University, Georgetown. He has coached for two seasons at Georgetown. He also served as a top assistant coach at Stanford University, Stanford, and University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame. Whil ...

were named as the 2004

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

Coaching Staff of the Year. As a recruiter, Avery helped bring 11

All-Americans 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 ...

to Notre Dame, as well as 2006

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

winner

Joseph Lapira Joseph Lapira (born August 13, 1986, Rochester, New York) is a retired soccer player. Born in the United States, Lapira is a one time international for the Republic of Ireland national football team. Besides the United States, he has played in No ...

. On March 3, 2006, Avery accepted a job as the head assistant and recruiting coordinator at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

under head coach

Ken Lolla Ken Lolla is a soccer coach who was formerly head men's soccer coach at the University of Louisville. He is also a writer and professional speaker. Lolla played collegiate soccer at Duke University and professionally at various US professional ...

. In his lone season with the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, Louisville qualified for the Big East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament for the first time in the program's history.

2007–2019: Head coach at Valparaiso

On January 18, 2007, Avery was hired as the head coach at

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

; he became the third coach in the history of the Crusaders men's soccer team. He joined his wife, Carin, at Valpo; she had been on the staff of the Crusaders'

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team since 1999. Avery's first match in charge ended in a 2–1 defeat to

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

on August 31; one week later, he earned his first win with Valpo with a 3–0 victory over IPFW. The Crusaders won four matches on the season and did so while conceding 28 goals, the third-fewest allowed in a single season in Valpo history. In 2008, Avery ran in five months to raise money for lights at Eastgate Field and new equipment for the program. That year, the Crusaders picked up their first victory over a ranked program in six seasons, defeating no. 25

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

on September 12 at the ProRehab

Aces ACeS (PT Asia Cellular Satellite) was a regional satellite telecommunications company based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It offered GSM-like satellite telephony services to Asian market. The coverage area included Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Phili ...

Soccer Classic. The following season, Valpo finished in third place in the

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

and tallied a winning record for the first time under Avery, winding up 10-7-2. After a nine-win season in 2010, Avery and the Crusaders won the 2011 Horizon League regular season title, the school's first team title since joining the conference. After the Crusaders finished 9-6-5, Avery was tabbed as the league's Coach of the Year. The Crusaders ended up with a losing record over the next two seasons, however, finishing with a 6-9-4 record in 2012 and a mark of 5-8-5 in 2013. In 2014, Valpo received votes in the

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 United States, American soccer Coach (sport), coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization i ...

national poll, doing so for the first time in school history. That mark came the same week that the Crusaders defeated no. 7

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

by a 1–0 scoreline, the highest-ranked opponent that Valpo had ever beaten. Later that season, Valpo earned a no. 25 ranking in the TopDrawerSoccer.com poll, the first time the Crusaders ever earned a top-25 national ranking. Avery's team went 8-5-6 on the season, with the .579 winning percentage tied as the best mark in program history. That campaign was followed by two more winning seasons, as the Crusaders tallied seven wins in 2015 and tied the school record with a 10-win season in 2016. Avery became the all-time winningest coach in Crusader history on September 16, 2017. With a 3–2 victory on the road against

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, he earned his 77th victory and surpassed Mis' Mrak for the Crusader record. Earlier that season, the men's soccer team had played Valparaiso's first game as a member of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

(MVC), tallying a 2–1 victory over Loyola on September 1. In 2018, Avery led the Crusaders to a third-place finish in the MVC regular season; it was the highest conference finish by a Crusader program since joining the Valley. The Crusaders finished with their worst record under Avery in 2019, ending with a 4-13-1 record. On November 13, Valpo was defeated by Drake in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The 2–1 defeat was the final match in program history. One week later, the university discontinued the men's soccer program. Avery left as the program leader in wins, picking up 91 over his 13 seasons in charge, and led the program to nine of the 10 best defensive seasons in Crusader history.

2020–present: Fort Wayne FC

On February 14, 2020, Avery was hired as the first head coach in

history. The

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

expansion club had previously agreed to terms with a coach "with past experience playing in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

", but were unable to complete the deal due to visa issues. Avery had previously assisted the club during its open tryouts earlier that year. Before he took charge of a game, the

2020 NPSL season The 2020 National Premier Soccer League season was part of the 108th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and the 18th season of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Miami FC, the defending league champions, left in the off ...

was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and on October 29 the club announced a move to

. Fort Wayne's inaugural match took place on May 9, 2021, ending in a 3–0 defeat against

Oakland County FC Oakland County Football Club is an American association football, soccer club based in Royal Oak, Michigan, Royal Oak, Michigan, located in the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area. Beginning with the 2020 season, they compete in USL League T ...

. After opening the season winless in six games, Avery tallied his and the club's first victory on June 11 with a 3–1 win over Toledo Villa. Fort Wayne's inaugural season ended with a 1-8-5 record and an eighth-place finish in the Great Lakes Division. On August 31, the club announced that Avery signed a contract extension as head coach through the 2022 USL League Two season and also appointed him as sporting director.

Administrative career

Avery was named as the

Calumet College of St. Joseph Calumet College of St. Joseph (or, Calumet College) is a private Roman Catholic college in Whiting, Indiana. It was founded in 1951 as an extension of Saint Joseph's College and is associated with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. In fal ...

(CCSJ) on February 26, 2021. Although he had never before held a position in athletic administration, Avery had been a faculty member at Bethel College;

; and

while coaching at those schools. During his time at CCSJ, Avery made one coaching hire: promoting Marcus Jefferson as head coach of the Crimson Wave men's basketball team in May. He also helped the school start a

sprint football Sprint football, formerly called lightweight football, is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under standard American football rules. As of the 2022 season, the sport is governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football ...

team as a founding member of the

Midwest Sprint Football League The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. On August 31, 2021, Avery stepped down from his position at CCSJ in order to accept a promotion to sporting director and head coach at Fort Wayne FC. When he was hired at Calumet College, Avery agreed with the school and the soccer club that the sides would sit down at the end of the

2021 USL League Two season The 2021 USL League Two season is the 27th season of the USL League Two, the top pre-professional soccer league in the United States, since its establishment in 1995. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 ...

and discuss his future path. He decided to continue at Fort Wayne and therefore resigned from his position at CCSJ.

Personal life

Avery's wife, Carin, is the head volleyball coach at Valparaiso. The two met in 1996 when they were both working at Bethel. The couple have two sons: Alex, who was born the day before the

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

volleyball tournament in 2003, and Kasongo, who was adopted from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Career statistics

Honors

Westmont *

(regular season): 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 Valparaiso *

(regular season): 2011 Individual * NAIA All-Far West team: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 * All-

: 1987, 1988 * NAIA Honorable Mention All-America: 1989 *

NCCAA The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athletic c ...

North Central Region Coach of the Year: 1995 * Mid-Central College Conference Coach of the Year: 1995, 1996 *

Coach of the Year: 2011

References

External links

Valparaiso profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Mike Living people 1968 births American men's soccer players American soccer coaches Soccer players from San Jose, California Men's association football utility players Westmont Warriors men's soccer players Indiana Invaders players American Professional Soccer League players USL League Two players Division 2 (Swedish football) players Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes men's soccer coaches Valparaiso Crusaders men's soccer coaches National Premier Soccer League coaches USL League Two coaches American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Calumet College of St. Joseph people College athletic directors in the United States Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes women's soccer coaches