Former WC coach Alex Van der Sluijs named men’s soccer head coach at Wright State
Alex Van der Sluijs has been named the next men's soccer head coach at Wright State University, Director of Athletics Bob Grant announced Tuesday afternoon.
Van der Sluijs becomes the 11th head coach in Wright State men's soccer program history.
"I want to thank the administration for having faith in me to lead the Wright State men's soccer program," Van der Sluijs said. "I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. I will pour my heart and soul into this program and I am so excited to continue to work with these young men."
"We are excited to see Alex take over the head coaching position," Associate Athletics Director Robert Ray added. "His high character, work ethic and knowledge of the game have already been a benefit to our program and our student-athletes over the last year. His understanding of our PSA model and desire to help our student-athletes reach their full potential makes me very excited for the future of the program."
Van der Sluijs joined Wright State as an assistant coach prior to the 2022 season, helping the Raiders to the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League tournament, where they fell in the semifinals.
Van der Sluijs joined the Raiders after a four-season stint as the head men's soccer coach at Wilmington College, while he also spent seven years at Defiance College, including serving as the school's head men's and women's soccer coach.
At Wilmington College, Van der Sluijs guided the Fightin' Quakers to four consecutive winning seasons and was named the 2021 OAC Coach of the Year after leading the team to 12 wins, its most victories in a season in 15 campaigns.
Under his tutelage, Wilmington earned 19 All-OAC awards, including garnering the OAC Forward and Defender of the Year honors in 2021. Additionally, forward Yusef Muqtadir garnered First Team All-OAC recognition and earned Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors.
During his time at Defiance, Van der Sluijs guided the men's program to its first winning season in 11 years, and its most-ever conference wins, in the 2013 campaign. On the women's side, Van der Sluijs led Defiance to the program's first-ever winning season in 2012. He currently still has the second-most wins in both Defiance men's and women's program history.
Van der Sluijs returned to Wilmington College following three years at Chaminade Julienne High School in Dayton, where he served as head boys' soccer coach and led the Eagles to three consecutive winning seasons.
A 2007 graduate of Wilmington, Van der Sluijs was a three-time First Team All-OAC selection as a player and was named OAC Forward of the Year on two occasions. He was a key offensive figure on a team that won Wilmington College's most recent OAC regular season title in 2004.
Van der Sluijs resides in Beavercreek with his wife, Paige, son, Yori and daughter, Annika.