John Velasco has been tabbed as the interim head coach of the program for the 2016 season.
Velasco was an assistant coach at Kean in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, before becoming an academy staff coach as well as part of the First Team support staff with the Columbus Crew SC of Major League Soccer. Most recently, he founded and is the Director of Training of Training TPM in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
With the Columbus Crew, Velasco assisted in the tactical, technical and developmental strategy of academy players in addition to overseeing the MLS first team's budgeting for apparel-related products. Velasco also served as the player to coach translator for the first team while assisting the Crew SC with their College ID clinics and summer college programs. During his last year with the Columbus Crew SC, Velasco was an assistant at Capital University.
A former four time New Jersey All-State, All-Middlesex County, and All-Conference selection in high school, Velasco was part of the New Jersey State and Region 1 Olympic Development Program team while also selected as part of the US Youth National Team player pool. Velasco played at both East Stroudsburg University under Jerry Sheska and Montclair State University where he was part of four conference championships, two with ESU and two with MSU. Velasco also played in the USL/PDL and the NPSL.
After graduating he went on to coach at Bloomfield (N.J.) High School, Torpedoes Soccer Club (Wycoff, N.J.), and Manalapan (N.J.) Soccer Club, while staying involved with his alma matter. He also worked under Nike Soccer, providing training sessions throughout the East Coast as the Regional Tour Manager. In addition, Velasco worked with Nike’s The Chance Academy soccer program (North America) as a scout on the east coast, identifying players from both academy and non-academy teams such as NY Red Bulls, Players Development Academy (N.J.), Bronx United (N.Y.), NY Kosmos FC (N.Y.), BW Gottschee Academy (N.Y.), Bethesda SC (Md.), Charlotte (N.C.) Soccer Academy, Concord (Ga.) Fire, Georgia United, and more. Velasco also worked in conjunction with the Youth National Soccer Combines through the Nike Soccer Programs.
Velasco earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and Adult Fitness from Montclair State University and is trilingual in English, Spanish and Portuguese. He currently holds his State and USSF Licenses.
