Fred Thompson is in his third year as head coach of the Southern Utah University women’s soccer team after being named head of the program on December 9, 2016.
During his first year at the helm, Thompson led the team to a 5-13 record, winning two more games than the previous season and finishing with a 3-3 home record. The Thunderbirds just missed making their first appearance in the Big Sky Soccer Championship Tournament by one point in the standings.
During his second year the team finished 2-15-1, winning both of their games at home, including a big shutout win over UNLV 2-0.
Over his two seasons as head coach, Thompson has coached three Big Sky All-Conference athletes (Summer Soriano and Bri Sims in 2017 and MaKenzie Lawrence in 2018) and 26 of his players have been named to the Big Sky All-Academic team.
Before coming to Southern Utah, Thompson served as the director of coaching for the Thurston County United Soccer Club and as a scout for the Youth National Team in the northwest region of the United States.
Prior to Washington, Thompson spent a year coaching the Downtown Soccer Club in Las Vegas before serving at the helm of the Arsenal Soccer Club in Arizona from 2014-15.
Thompson was an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team at Army West Point from 2009-2011 and interim head coach for the 2012 season. During his tenure at West Point the team had a combined record of 41-28-11, making the NCAA tournament in 2011 for just the second time in program history.
Before joining the staff at West Point, Thompson was the head coach of the men’s soccer team at Bowling Green State University from 2004-2008 and an assistant coach at the University of Evansville from 2002-2004. Thompson started his collegiate coaching at Bellevue Community College where he served as head coach of the men’s team and assistant coach of the women’s team from 2000-2002.
Prior to beginning his coaching career, Thompson was a four-year starter for George Mason University where he earned All-South Atlantic Region, All-ECAC South, All-Colonial Athletic Association, All-Capital Collegiate Conference, and All-Virginia Intercollegiate League honors throughout his playing career. For three of his four years as a player, George Mason was ranked as a Top 20 team in the nation. He was recently named as a member of the All-Time Colonial Athletic Association Team for men’s soccer.
After graduating from George Mason with a bachelor’s degree in finance, Thompson played for the Jamaican National Team and several professional teams including the Baltimore Blast and Tacoma Stars from the Major Indoor Soccer League and the Sacramento Knights of the Continental Indoor Soccer League.
Throughout his playing and collegiate coaching careers, Thompson has always been involved in youth soccer, coaching club teams in Washington, Las Vegas, and Arizona. Thompson currently holds a United States Soccer Federation “A” License and a Sports Life Coach Certification.
