The Board would also like to announce the addition of Ryan Lakin, IWU Men’s Soccer Coach to the Coaching Committee. As a three-time "Coach of the Year" in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while at Millikin, Ryan became head men's soccer coach at Illinois Wesleyan University in June 2005. He was a soccer letterman at Illinois State and earned "Most Improved Player" for the 1992 Redbirds team and was the 1993 team captain. He was chosen to the Missouri Valley Conference all-league and all-tournament squads. He was named to the all-Midwest region team.

He was an assistant coach for the Lincoln College men's soccer team in 1994 and was director of coaching for the Bloomington-Normal Soccer Club from 1995 to 1998, when he started as Head Coach at Millikin University.

Ryan has also been an assistant coach to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds as well as their director of youth programming for the "A League" professional team. He was most recently the Assistant Director of Coaching at Barrington (Ill.) Area Soccer Association and FC Barrington, where he was responsible for the operation and oversight of 2,000 recreational players, 35 travel teams and 15 staff coaches.

In addition to IWU and BNSC, Ryan is also part of the Olympic Development coaching staff and an instructor on the coaching education staff for the State of Illinois. With the Illinois Youth Soccer Association and FC Barrington, Lakin co-developed and co-instructed the first pilot program for the development of a recreational coaching license, which will eventually be implemented throughout the state, region and national levels.

Tony Bauman grew up in the Bloomington/Normal area attending NCHS where we was the goalkeeper for the Ironmen. After high school, he attended Goshen College in Indiana where he was a starting goalkeeper all 4 years, graduating in 1994.

After college he served as the Assistant Director of Coaching for the Jr. Irish Soccer club coaching the U17 Boys to an Indiana State Cup Championship in 1999. He coached for 8 years at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana achieving an overall record of 100-34-14, earning a #15 spot in the National High School Top 20 poll, and an Indiana State High School Championship in 1999. While in Indiana, Tony also received awards as the Northern Indiana Conference Coach of the Year in 1996 and 1997, Indiana District 2 Coach of the Year in 1999, and Indiana Soccer Coaches’ Association Men’s Coach of the Year in 1999. He moved back to Bloomington in 2002 and started coaching the Bloomington High School Varsity Boys and Girls teams leading them to 2005 Regional Champions and 2006 Regional Champions respectively. Tony also currently serves on the IHSA Soccer Advisory Board.

Tony’s soccer education includes NSCAA National and Advanced National Diplomas as well as NSCAA Special Topic High School and Special Topic Goalkeeping Diplomas. He has a NSCAA National Youth Diploma and has also received IYSA certification in the U8-U10 and U10-U12 modules, and is an AYSO U6-U12 Certified Coach Instructor.

In the past Tony has been a camp coach at the Notre Dame University Soccer Camp and still travels back to Goshen College each summer to be a camp coach at his alma-mader.

Chris grew up in Bloomington/Normal playing his youth soccer through the Bloomington/Normal Soccer Club (BNSC). He also played soccer for three years at Bloomington High School before playing and graduating from Normal West. After high school he continued to play soccer at Anderson University in Anderson, IN through the fall 1999 season.

He then returned back to the Bloomington/Normal area and began his coaching career at BNSC for three years. Chris then became the Assistant Director of Coaching for Central Illinois Select (CIS) for five years from 2002 to 2007. In 2004, Chris joined the Illinois ODP staff as a trainer and evaluator during the tryout and winter sessions. He currently holds a USSF ‘C’ License as well as a NSCAA National Youth Diploma .

Craig Lee grew up in Bloomington/Normal starting his soccer career in the Prairie Cities Soccer League Kindergarten Division and moved to the Bloomington-Normal Soccer Club a few years later. Lee was a member of the Illinois Olympic Development program as a goalkeeper for three years. He graduated from Normal Community High School in 1996 after starting four years in goal for the Ironmen, taking away an MVP award in his senior year. After playing college soccer for Northeastern Illinois University, he transferred to Bradley where he completed his degree in Biology.

Lee started his coaching career while attending Bradley University, commuting to Bloomington to coach BNSC’s U13 girl’s team. After graduating, he worked under Ryan Lakin as an assistant for the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Millikin University for two years. During that time, Lee also coached the MacArthur High School Girl’s Program in Decatur. He became the Head Soccer Coach at Millikin University, working with the Women’s Program 2003-2005, and the Men’s program from 2003-2006. Lee became the first coach in Millikin history to compete internationally when he led the Men’s team to Barcelona for touring and competition in 2005; then followed the next year with the Women’s team tour of northern Italy. He has worked all over the Midwest at various summer camps including Central Illinois Soccer Academy at Bradley University, Creighton University Soccer Camps, Eastern Illinois Soccer School, Elite Girl’s Soccer Academy hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University, and Willy Roy Soccer Academy at Northern Illinois University. Lee holds a USSF "B" Coaching License as well as a NSCAA National Youth Diploma and has served on the NCAA Central Region Ranking Committee.

Joe Morelli grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI playing club soccer for nationally ranked clubs Michigan Wolves and Vardar III. His Vardar team won 8 consecutive state championships, two regional championships and was a national finalist in 1999 and 2000. Morelli was a member of the Michigan Olympic Development program as a defender. He graduated from Brother Rice High School in 1999. After starting four years and being a finalist for Mr. Soccer in the state of Michigan his senior year, Joe continued his soccer career at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Morelli was a four year starter and three year captain at UIC. Throughout his career, Morelli was named all league, all tournament and all region while leading UIC to two NCAA appearances. After playing college soccer, Morelli enjoyed a 4 year professional soccer career. During his time in the pros, Joe played for the Cincinnati Riverhawks (A-League), St. Louis Steamers (MISL), and the Virginia Beach Mariners (A-League/USL Division I).

Joe began his coaching his career while playing in Virginia Beach. He was a staff coach for the Virginia Rush. Following the conclusion of his playing career, Joe was an assistant coach at Brother Rice HS in Michigan where his team lost in the State Championship in 2005. During the winter of 2005/2006, Morelli moved to Forsyth, Illinois to become the Assistant Director of Coaching for MidState Soccer Club. After less than a year, Joe was promoted to Director of Coaching where he served until July of 2007. Morelli currently holds a USSF ‘B’ License as well as a NSCAA National Youth Diploma.