In mid-March, Biola athletics announced that Todd Elkins would be stepping into the newly-created position of director of soccer. Along with this full-time status comes new responsibilities, chiefly assuming the recently vacated men’s head soccer coach position.
While the programs are undergoing a bit of a transition phase, Elkins will be the head coach of both the men and women’s soccer teams for the upcoming fall 2013 season.
No stranger to the game
Elkins became head coach of the women's team after being a part of the Biola coaching staff under Mike Silzer for four years. He accepted the job of head coach in 2008 with the goal to turn around a program that saw little success. Since then, the women’s team has reached the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament for the past three seasons, advancing to the finals in 2012. The goals he has for both teams, however, stretch farther than making it to the conference finals.
“The [NAIA] national tournament is ultimately our main goal,” Elkins said in a phone interview. “It doesn’t matter whether you win GSAC or not, but how well you do in the national tournament is what’s important.”
A change of course
Under the direction of Bryan Kuderman over the past 11 years, the men’s team clinched the GSAC Tournament Championship in 2011 and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament. His best year came in 2009 when he guided the men’s team to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Tournament. Kuderman’s decision to leave the program came as a surprise to most, including Elkins. Yet the Eagles’ men and women’s teams had to continue despite the resignation and began their off-season training in March; this time with Elkins as head.
“It’s hard making that transition, especially for the guys who have a very young team but have already developed the playing and practice style that Kuderman had established on his team,” Elkins said. “But they’ve helped in making the transition a lot smoother. They did very well last season. They know they’re good and that they have to push and persevere to improve from here on out.”
New coach brings new perspective
Elkins’ style of play and philosophy behind the game includes intense practices that emphasize heavy possession. Now Elkin’s goal is to find the strengths that the men’s team possesses, and challenge them to perform at an even higher level. Luckily, Biola was able to offer Elkins the job of head coach to both teams in a full-time position, which will make balancing the duties of each team an easier task than before.
“Now I will be focusing more on the teams, whereas before I had to balance the girl’s team and any other part-time jobs I needed,” Elkins said. “But I would say that a good coaching staff and the time and dedication I can now put into these teams is what’s going to help the teams next year.”
