Rubbie Chavez
Staff Writer
At the University of La Verne passion, growth and success all play a key role in creating a new legacy for new men’s soccer coach Drew Rea.
Rea, originally from Ireland, came to the U.S. as a child and created a name for himself in the soccer world.
Before starting here this season, Rea coached at Cal State Dominguez Hills for 11 years.
“The biggest thing that got me into coaching was obviously the love of the sport,” Rea said. “My mom was a teacher. I never wanted to get into teaching, but I naturally had that teacher’s mindset and that was a big trigger for me to follow that passion of education with my passion for soccer.”
Rea’s journey started when he moved to the U.S. as a child and began to play baseball and soccer.
“I just fell more for soccer and had an addiction to the game,” Coach Rea said.
His love of the sport followed him to his college years where he played at Western Michigan for one year, then moved on to play at Cal State Bakersfield, where he became a two-time All-American. Rea then went back to Europe to play for the Glentoran Football Club in Northern Ireland.
On and off the pitch Coach Rea said he relies on his wife, Faith, and their two children Braydon, 6, and Emma, 4.
He said that creating a new community culture is one of his main goals this season.
“It’s the 4 Qs: quality of education, quality of financial aid, quality of soccer and quality of the community,” Rea said.
By incorporating his style of play into coaching, Rea said he hopes to utilize the technical skills of his players and improve them to work together as a team.
“Coach Drew clearly has a vision set out for us, and he’s executing it very well,” said Sebastian Gonzalez, sophomore midfielder.
“I think this is the first time I’ve been part of this program, and we had a coach that expected perfection out of us, which sounds crazy but it’s something I know we can do,” said senior defender Kaelem Walker
“He likes to get us in goal scoring positions and obviously as a midfielder those are the positions you want to be in” Alexander Bastidas, junior midfielder, said.
“Some of these guys are going to put their name in history and that’s what we’re hoping for to get their name on that banner,” Rea said.
Rubbie Chavez can be reached at rubbie.chavez@laverne.edu.
Rubbie Chavez is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations, and a staff writer for the Campus Times. She is also a dedicated photographer for La Verne Athletics, and her passion for storytelling and sports through dynamic visual content. Her work can also be found on Instagram or at gfxbyrubbie.myportfolio.com
Aaliyah Alamillo is a junior photography major and a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine.
