Lady Outlaws soccer team has a new head coach

Nik Goertzen has taken over the reins as the girls varsity soccer coach at Sisters High School.

He is thrilled with the opportunity to live and work in the area.

Goertzen spent vacations and holidays at Camp Sherman from the time he was three years old and always told himself if he ever got a job opportunity in Sisters he'd take it. His dream came through this past summer when he got a call from the High Desert Educational Service District offering him a job teaching Driver's Education. Goertzen will be taking over the Driver's Ed program and will create an umbrella program involving Sisters, Redmond, Crook County and the Bend-La Pine school districts.

Goertzen will also head up the girls soccer program at Sisters High School. He brings years of player and coaching experience to the position.

Soccer has been a part of Goertzen's life since his days in elementary school. He started playing at age six and kept it up for 17 consecutive years. He then played in Klosterneuburg, Austria for a year while studying abroad.

Goertzen began his coaching career at Canby High School in 1993 and was there until 1996. After Canby, he was the girls varsity assistant coach of the women's program at George Fox University in Newberg for one-and-a-half seasons.

Goertzen went on to coach boys varsity soccer at La Salle and was there for three years. He coached under Christopher Thurley, who is currently the U16 Olympic Development Program (ODP) coach for the state of Oregon. Goertzen coached boys soccer at Corbett High School for a season-and-a-half and then took a break from coaching for a couple of years.

Goertzen told The Nugget he's ready to get back at it and will begin his first tour of duty in Sisters this fall.

Goertzen told The Nugget he hopes to engrain a philosophy of balance into his players. He said he believes family comes first, then school, followed by soccer and then personal social activities.

Goertzen wants to make his players accountable for what they do in all areas of their lives, not exclusively in soccer. He said he will challenge the girls to be their best and refuse to accept mediocrity.

"I want them to be full-fledged players and not just one dimensional. I want them to learn everything they can about the game. I want them to know it's okay to specialize, but I want them to have an open mindset," he said.

Goertzen has spent hours this summer getting to know his players on an individual basis and believes that the one-on-one time will pay off once the season begins.

"I've spent lots of time getting to know the girls in a non-threatening, feel-good interaction," he said. "I wanted to get a feel for the program and what's important to the girls. Through these conversations I wanted to mold a starting point before the season gets underway."

This will be the first time in Goertzen's career that he will be taking over an established program, and he plans to build on that foundation.

"I don't want that to be lost," he said. "I want to continue to grow that. I'd like to add a couple of twists to what's already been established and accomplished (making it to the quarterfinals) and hopefully take it a step farther."

The girls will kick off their season with a jamboree at Philomath on August 31.