Vardar North names Paul Lawrence and Michael O’Neill two local collegiate assistant coaches to head the U16 & U18 Girls Soccer Travel Programs for 2013.
Paul Lawrence
Paul Lawrence will be Vardar Norths U16 Girls Head Coach for 2013. He joined the Northwood University women’s soccer staff as an assistant coach in July of 2012.
“I am thrilled to become a part of the Northwood family,” said Lawrence. “Haven spoken with Coach Pappas, and after visiting the campus, it was clear we shared the same visions for the program and his ambition matched mine. We are both committed to the future of the women’s soccer program and it is clearly an exciting time to be a part of Northwood University Athletics. I could not be more excited about this opportunity.”
Lawrence, a native of Bournemouth, England arrives at Northwood after serving as the Assistant Women’s coach at Alma College, where the team reached the NCAA tournament in his first season with the program. Besides winning the school’s first MIAA Tournament Championship in the 22-year history of the program, the Scots also notched the best record in school history at 18-4-1 record. Alma finished the season ranked 22nd in the NCAA. Lawrence was instrumental in the programs recruiting efforts and also served as the programs reserve team Head Coach.
Lawrence joined the Scots in 2011 after two seasons at Bournemouth University. During that time he helped lead the men’s program to a National Championship appearance under the guidance of semi-professional player/coach Chris Knowles.
Prior to his final season at Bournemouth, Lawrence was a Head coach with the Fusion team here in Midland. While with the Fusion, he spent time coaching a number of different age groups at the youth level as well as helping launch the Recreational Training Academy in 2009. Lawrence was able to gain early coaching experience as a volunteer assistant with various academy teams growing up in England while attending school.
In the classroom, Lawrence earned his bachelor degree in Sports Development & Coaching Sciences with a 2:1 score from Bournemouth University in 2011, electing to revisit college in 2007 after working a number of professional employment business roles full-time. During his time at Bournemouth University Lawrence took a volunteer position with professional English club AFC Bournemouth where he assisted in player analysis and game video analysis.
Lawrence currently holds a (NSCAA) Advanced National Diploma, (NSCAA) Goalkeeper 1 & 2 and Level 2. (F.A) coaching badge from England. He will be flying to Florida in January to take his (NSCAA) Advanced National Diploma.
Paul currently resides in Mount Pleasant with his wife Maria and their child London Olivia.
Michael O’Neill
Michael O’Neill will be heading up Vardar Norths U18 girls soccer team for 2013 and is starting his first season as an assistant coach of the SVSU men’s soccer program. O’Neill brings a vast amount of experience and knowledge of the GLIAC as he played collegiately at Tiffin University.
O’Neill graduated from Tiffin in 2012 with a bachelors degree in Sport and Recreation Management excelling academically as he was selected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Academic All-American team.
O’Neill hails from Luton, England and joins SVSU after holding the title of Director of Coaching at Perrysburg Impact Soccer in Ohio.
| Vardar North’s McCracken Commits to Tech |
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December 18, 2012 For Immediate Release Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women’s soccer team is proud to announce that Darby McCracken (Freeland, MI/Freeland HS) has signed a letter of intent to play soccer for the Warriors for the fall of 2013. McCracken, a 5-foot-7 defender, has earned a three year varsity letter and guided the Falcons to the Tri-Valley Conference West soccer championships with an unbeaten record in conference play for the past three years. As a junior in 2011, she was 1st Team All-District, 1st Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-Region, and 2nd Team All-State. Additionally, McCracken’s premier division club team, Vardar North is the reigning 2011 Orange Classic International Tournament champion (Showcase I, Bracket 4). “Darby comes at a critical stage of the development of our program. She will be asked to help us reach the next level which is a conference championship and an invitation to the national tournament.” said Warrior Coach Jim Lipocky. |
Congratulations to Vardar North’S U14 Girls Soccer Team for their 2nd place finish at the Rush Tournament in Northville May13, 2012.
You can stay up to date by visiting our team’s public website at:
http://www.yearbookmagic.com/public_teamhome.asp?teamid=1095
Steve Walker
Vardar North U14 Girls
Carolynn Cosan
Adam Puvalowski
Two precious members of our Vardar North family whose lives were cut short in two separate car accidents in Spring of 2010.