BY RYAN MCARDELL, Lions’ Pride Staff Writer
The word around Saint Leo is that there’s a new coach in town. There’s a new Men’s Soccer Coach with a great history and even brighter future: Keith Fulk is a new addition to the Lions this season, looking to take over an already talented team.
Fulk took the opportunity to speak of his experience on the field and on the sideline. Fulk first began playing for the University of Tampa, a rival of Saint Leo, in the 1990s. Fulk retired from playing in 1992, shortly after suffering a career-ending injury. In total, Fulk has had surgery on his left knee nine times.
After retiring from playing, he began coaching as an assistant at UT in spring 1994. It was only a few months later that UT won the National Championship. Coach Fulk remained an assistant until 1996, when he took over the Head Coach position, while his predecessor went to work for the US National Soccer Team. Fulk then led his squad to a national title of his own in 2001. This Division II National Champion got his name out there as a strong coach and leader, prompting West Virginia University to offer him their Head Coaching position, which led him to go on to coach the US National U-17 group as an assistant coach. After spending about seven years with that team he made his way home after traveling much of the world, including South Korea, and parts of Africa. From there, he made his way home to the United States to work for industry-leading IMG Sports. He realized his true passion and love was for coaching college soccer.
Coach Fulk is bringing his hard work ethic to Saint Leo, all while incorporating some of the core values we have here. He mentioned the responsibility of his players to bring the program to a new level, not only physically but academically. Accountability for the players and their actions, on and off the field, and the commitment they bring to each other as teammates are all expected. The mentality is a huge area of focus on Coach Fulks’ part where he told me that players are, “To be comfortable” meaning that they get complacent with a few good wins and their focus shifts elsewhere. He hopes to bring a never-settling attitude to his team.
The season is underway with the Lions’ being undefeated going into Friday’s game against nationally-ranked UT, who is also undefeated. When asked about the impressive start that the Lions are on, Fulk said, “I am not at all surprised with where we are right now, we have a great team, with a lot of talent.” He plans to send his Lions out onto University Field 9/16 to face a strong team.
Coach Fulk went on to talk about his experience here at Saint Leo in the short time he’s been here. Family is a big issue to Fulk who has two children, ages 4 and 9. When he finally made it back to the Tampa area, Saint Leo welcomed him, “with open arms, nothing but positive things” he said. “I am very honored to be here amongst great people like Fran Reidy and Dr. Kirk, and it’s great to be a part of such a tight community.” We look forward to seeing this new Lion on the sideline, with great things ahead of him and the team. Saint Leo Men’s Soccer looks to stay undefeated against fierce rival University of Tampa on 9/16, who is ranked number two nationally in Division II.
