For decades Coach Alex Louis has been synonymous with Union County College soccer. On Saturday, September 16th Coach Alex accomplished a significant coaching milestone of earning his 300th win. The milestone came when the men's soccer team defeated Cumberland County College 7-1 at Union's home field site at Snyder Ave Turf Field in Berkeley Heights, NJ.
The team showed up to play on Saturday and definitely earned a win with seven goals scored by four players, three of which are freshman. Alex Calderon and Raphael Rodrigues each scored a goal along with Imad Gado who scored two goals. Freshman Christopher Mathurin from Elizabeth, NJ had a highlight reel game by scoring a Hat Trick of three goals.
The success of the Men's Soccer team is due to Coach Alex being at the helm of the men's soccer program at Union for the past 21 seasons. Throughout the past two plus decades Coach Alex has had the pleasure of coaching 17 NJCAA All-Americans and 22 All-Americans named by the United Soccer Coaches Organization formally known as National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The road to 39 All-Americans came through 20 out of 21 seasons having appearances at the Region XIX Tournament and named Region XIX Champions 6 times which led to 6 NJCAA National Tournament appearances. In 2009, Coach Alex along with his team and coaching staff had the pleasure of raising the National Tournament trophy and was named the 2009 NJCAA DIII National Champion. Alex has been named Coach of the Year twice in his tenure along with being inducted into the Union County College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
Coach Alex has found success by running a regimented program where the athletes understand the importance of dedication to be successful. To achieve success all great leaders know that success is not achieved solely by one individual. Coach Alex has constantly surrounded himself with talented coaching staffs to provide his teams with the best quality of coaching throughout all aspects of the game.
A great leader also knows that the next generation of coaches requires mentoring in order for prosperity. There has been many of his athletes that have looked towards Coach Alex for mentoring through their transition from athlete to coach. Several of his former players have had the opportunity to stand on the sideline with Coach Alex and learn what is necessary to recruit individuals and bring them together as a team.
Several of his former players have gone on to run their own soccer academies such as Creative Soccer Pro Academy out of Long Island, NY and Sport Club Portuguese out of Newark, NJ. Alex also has an alum currently playing professional soccer on the Red Bulls 2 team and another who played for the New York Cosmos.
Alex's passion for the game of soccer runs deep and he strives to improve the skills and lives of as many soccer players as possible. Union County College wants to thank and congratulate Coach Alex Louis on an impressive 21 seasons and to many more.
#WeAreOwlStrong