Bingham soccer coach expects to win

SOUTH JORDAN — When Kevin Vander Veur was hired to coach the Bingham High girls soccer team, he knew he was taking over a program that was used to winning.

But then again, so was Vander Veur.

Vander Veur coached the Utah Avalanche, a competitive club team that travels nationally, which had some of the best high school girls in the state, to the State Cup two of the last three years in what Vander Veur calls "three times the level" of high school play.

So taking over for retired coach Trisha Roberts, who led Bingham to the state championship in 2003 and second place in the state tournament in 2004, was no big deal.

Bingham, a young team that lost 10 seniors this year, has had its challenges though, going through a particularly tough preseason with a record of 1-2-1.

"We're rebuilding a little bit," said Vander Veur. "We play good a few minutes and then struggle."

Despite the preseason record, Vander Veur said the girls have been competitive, tying a highly talented Brighton team in double overtime, 1-1, in preseason play. Bingham even gave Alta a fairly good game, he said.

"(We're) competing with some of the best (teams in the state)," Vander Veur said. "We just have to hang in there and keep working."

Working is something that the girls have been doing. Vander Veur said he pushes the girls a lot harder and just doesn't have them scrimmage for practice, as they may have been accustomed to.

"I challenge them with their skills a lot more," he said.

With a background originally in football, Vander Veur took up coaching soccer 12 years ago because he didn't like the coaching that was going on. He started in the recreational leagues and then moved on to the competitive leagues, he said.

He started to coach the Utah Avalanche, a competitive team that plays in the high school offseason, October until the summer, in 1995, when the girls were 9 years old.

Coaching the same girls until they were 19, Vander Veur helped every player on the team secure college scholarships, including former Bingham goalie Ali Griffin, who is set to play for Utah State this year and Vander Veur's daughter, Alyssa, who signed to play with BYU.

Vander Veur is licensed by the state to coach in the competitive leagues, which required 64 hours of training that challenged him as a coach and made him better prepared to help the girls, he said.

With talented players such as Carly Kallas, Hailey McKee and Tasha Aiono, Vander Veur expects to continue Bingham's winning tradition.

Asked if Bingham will be in the running to make the state tournament, which will be held in October, and do well as it has in the past, Vander Veur said, "I haven't booked any out-of-town plans yet."