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March 4, 2006 LACEY --- Rob Walker has been named as the coach of the newly formed men's and women's soccer teams at Saint Martin's University. Walker, a Saint Martin's graduate, is a longtime coach at the youth and high school level. For the past five and a half years, he's been the director and coach of Mountain Brook, a youth soccer club in Birmingham, Ala., with 1,400 participants. Walker coached boys and girls soccer at Timberline High School from 1983-92. "He has experience, contacts and reputation," Saint Martin's athletic director Bob Grisham said. "I think right out of the gate it really brings credibility to our program and what we want to build a program to be." For Walker, 44 and a 1979 Olympia graduate, it's a chance to return home. "Wow," Walker said in a phone interview from his Birmingham home. "The more I got into the interview process the more excited I got." To give Walker time to build a program, his teams will compete on the club level this fall and compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in the 2007 season. Walker will work on a half-time contract for the first year. "I just smile every time I think about what the possibilities are," Walker said. He plans on hiring two assistants. Walker was the first director of Mountain Brook, giving him experience on building a program. But it's Walker's first college coaching job. "Our committee was impressed with his answers, his presentation and his vision of what he wants to accomplish and what the program will offer to the community," Grisham said. Walker began coaching his junior year at Olympia and continued to coach youth soccer as he taught at Yelm from 1992 to 2000. Over the years, he's assisted on Olympic developmental teams, was on men's U.S. Olympic team in 1996 as goalkeeper coach for two training camps, and was the women's U.S. Olympic team in 2000 as goalkeeper coach for the Algarve Cup in Portugal. "I love this job here in Alabama and wouldn't move unless it involved going home," Walker said. "I'm really excited about it." Walker has put his house up for sale, will be done at Mountain Brook at the end of March and will be in the Northwest in April to begin recruiting. "I want to talk with kids about coming here in the fall for club sport," Walker said. "I need to get relocated as quickly as I can." Plans to build an on-campus soccer field are underway. Walker was chosen from four finalists and was one of 55 applicants. "We had applicants from the Atlantic Ocean to Hawaii," Grisham said. "We were very pleased with the applicants we got." Walker's wife, Deter, a North Thurston graduate, also will be returning home. "Deter is probably the happiest person in Alabama right now," Walker said. "She's missed her friends and family. She sacrificed a lot for me to come here. I'm glad to get home." Deter is the mother of Kasey Keller, the goalkeeper for the U.S. World Cup team. Courtesy of THE OLYMPIAN
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