Ben began his soccer career at seven years old playing for his local youth team in the suburbs of Liverpool, England. After a few years at the local level, Ben was recruited to play for Bolton Wanderers FC Academy of the English Premier League, where he spent time working with the best players in the northwest of England and learning from some of the best coaches in Europe. Ben was also fortunate to spend a great deal of time around many of Bolton's first team players at the time including World Cup and European Cup Winner Youri Djorkaeff, and African Player of the Year Jay-Jay Okocha. In addition, Ben also played for Burnley FC of the EPL, Tranmere Rovers FC of the EFL, and Southport FC of the English Conference.
After a successful playing career, Ben decided to pursue a career in coaching and began his bachelor's degree in coaching and performance development at Edge Hill University in the UK. While he was completing his studies, he began gaining experience working with the academy teams at Edge Hill while also assisting with the men's teams.
He spent the 2006-07 season working at Wigan Athletic FC of the English Premier League providing Prozone Match Analysis, and coaching expertise to the various youth teams within the club.
Ben served as director of coaching and then executive director of Chill SBC Soccer Club in East Lansing, MI. Under his guidance and with help from the club owners and staff, the club grew from five teams in 2008 to 40 teams in 2016.
Ben has experience within the Michigan Olympic Development Program serving as an evaluator and assistant coach in previous seasons. Ben is also an MSYSA coaching educator for Michigan State Soccer Association.
Ben has previous experience working at the highest level of the male and female game in the NPSL and WPSL. He was the assistant coach of the Lansing United team in their inaugural season in 2014 when they captured the NPSL Midwest region championship and reached the national semifinal. Ben also served as the assistant coach of the Michigan Chill Women’s team in 2016 as they finished in first place in the WPSL Great Lakes conference and reached the regional semifinal.
Qualifications:
USSF National "A" Coaching License
NSCAA Premier Diploma
NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma
Bachelors of Science Degree in Coaching and Performance Development
