Tavi Mounsithiraj ’94 opened Goshen Soccer Academy, an indoor sports complex in Goshen, in 2020. Before this project, Mounsithiraj had served as Goshen College’s men’s soccer coach for 13 seasons from 2001 to 2014, as well as head coach of the women’s soccer team for nine years. Since the opening of GSA, students majoring in exercise science and sports management at Goshen College have served as interns at the facility.
Val Hershberger, associate professor of kinesiology, is responsible for the partnership.“When GSA got started, I right away talked to my friend Tavi and just said, ‘We want to get [GC students] out here if we can and have them help out,’” she said. “And they were on board with it from day one.”
Many GC students are required to complete a semester-long internship in order to graduate. Hershberger said, “It’s a little harder for the sport management students since many of them are interested in coaching. So you’re trying to find places for them to fit in and get experience when they’re not in their season.”
The match between GSA’s operation and GC’s soccer student-athletes is almost perfect. The spring is when the facility is busiest for futsal, which coincides with the men’s soccer team’s off-season.
The GSA interns this semester include Eli Simones and Junto Murata, senior sport management majors and Guilherme Moreira, junior physical education major.
“We’ll have some more menial tasks, like cleaning the courts or vacuuming the turf field, just to make sure the facility is up and running. There are a couple of different sessions that we’ll help with, like assisting the coach with little-kid sessions or helping train the older ones,” Simones said.
The position also brings some challenges, such as working with three to five-year-old children, Simones said. “They’re really little, and it’s hard to keep them focused and know exactly what to do. With the older kids, it’s a lot easier because they know how the game works,” he said.
The three students are monitored and mentored by Mounsithiraj and Phil Simon, a full-time manager at GSA. “They will give us what tasks to do on a certain day, like if one of us is needed on a different court,” Simones said. He added that they are both helpful and great to work with.
Hershberger believes that, besides giving students a first look at how working for a sports organization operates, it also gives them crucial hands-on practice, such as running drills, going to games and communicating. “They have to be self-motivated, manage their time and meet expectations with evaluations set at a high bar,” she concluded.
Simones views his current role as a stepping stone to a coaching career. At GSA, futsal courts provide a smaller, fast-paced setting that allows him to focus on individual skills before transitioning players to full soccer. “It’s fun getting to work with kids who want to be there … they want to improve and they want to get better, and that’s what I want to do going into coaching,” he said.
Hershberger values the project and its impact on GC’s athletic department. “I appreciate those guys taking our folks under their wings and giving them that responsibility … hopefully it turns into something more full-time for them down the road.”
Besides soccer, GSA also offers pickleball, volleyball and racquetball leagues, as well as courts by reservation. More information is available on their website at goshensocceracademy.com.
