Woodside to Lead Red Devils

Ryan Woodside has been named Eureka College men's soccer head coach, according to an announcement from Director of Athletics Bryan Moore on Friday.

Woodside is the fifth head coach in program history, following Dwain Barker, who stepped down this winter after eight seasons at the helm (2014-21).

A Bloomington native, Woodside is coming back to central Illinois after previously serving as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Hope College in Holland, Michigan. There, he developed training programs to improve player performance, helped build a unique team culture, contributed to strategizing and training, and assisted with running summer soccer camps and ID camps.

This past fall, Hope went 11-4-3 on the season and had four players receive All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors. Woodside was named interim head coach at Hope after head coach Dave Brandt departed for Division I Bucknell.

"I'm extremely excited to be joining the Eureka College family," Woodside said. "I'm really big on relationships, and it is clear to me that there's a great family-like culture on campus here focused on caring for and bettering students. I'm grateful to be joining such a culture and am excited to get started relentlessly pursuing some lofty goals with a program that has so much potential."

Woodside's experience in coaching soccer was preceded by a notable playing career.

A 2015 Normal Community High School graduate, Woodside was a three-year varsity player and a First Team All-Big Twelve selection, helping the Ironmen take state runner-up in Class 3A as a senior. He also played club soccer for the Central Illinois Rowdies.

After high school, Woodside went on to play at Hope, where he was a four-year starter as a midfielder. He appeared in 71 games and made 66 starts for the Flying Dutchmen and, when he was a senior, Woodside helped lead his team to a 14-3-1 season.

After graduating from Hope with a bachelor's degree in biology and English in 2019, Woodside played a season of low-level professional soccer in Sweden. His team, Stöde IF, won the Swedish Division III Mellersta Norrland title and earned promotion.

He has also played high-level amateur soccer for the Muskegon Risers in the Major Arena Soccer League II, and last spring, he had the unique experience of helping launch a semi-professional club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, called the West Michigan Bearings. Woodside played for and ran the club in its first season in the Midwest Premier League last summer.

"It was evident early in our search that Ryan's values and priorities were very much in tune with our perspective as a department and as an institution," Moore said. "He is a very organized and ambitious college soccer mind, knows soccer in Central Illinois, and comes to us from a very strong Division III program as a student-athlete and coach. Our student-athletes will be in good hands under his leadership, and we can't wait for him to get started."

Woodside is currently getting his master's of divinity through the Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.

STORY COURTESY OF EUREKA COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION