RIVER FALLS – Adam Koger looks to return to his roots, taking on the role of River Falls boys varsity soccer coach in addition to teaching high school physical education in the district.

Koger spent five years in the Ellsworth Community School District as a high school physical education teacher, cross country/track and field coach and athletic director for about a year.

Despite not coaching soccer during his time at Ellsworth, Koger has experience both playing and coaching soccer. Koger made two state tournaments as a soccer player while playing at Eau Claire Memorial in high school, spending his senior year as a team captain. After high school, Koger went on to play club soccer for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Before coming to Ellsworth, Koger spent four years as a coach for the River Falls boys junior varsity soccer team and another four years as an assistant for the girls team.

Koger outlined what River Falls fans can expect from him, as he hopes his enthusiasm for the sport can rub off on the players.

“I think they’re going to find an enthusiastic and positive individual,” Koger said. “My goal, again, is to share my passion with my players, and so hopefully that feeds through to them.”

There have been a variety of things from Koger’s time as athletic director that he believes will translate over to being a soccer coach.

“I have a newfound appreciation for the officials that we have in all sports,” Koger said.

“Finding them as an athletic director was one of my most challenging projects.”

Another thing Koger learned is the importance of communication between the coaches and the athletic director. Koger said this is one of the keys to continued growth within programs, allowing them to build the way the staff believes is right.

Koger enjoys being around students, and taking over as soccer coach will give him the opportunity to do so while teaching a sport that he loves.

“I’m really excited to get back onto the soccer field,” Koger said. “There’s something about walking out onto the field and lacing up my cleats again and knocking the ball around that just gets me excited.”

The team has had recent success, including a 2021 state appearance, and Koger hopes to further improve the team.

An area Koger will focus on with the team is the fundamentals. Koger said while the tactics and formations can be important, making sure players put each other in the right situations with strong touches will help the team be successful. Making these touches and plays allows Koger’s team to “let our athletes be athletes.”

“We sometimes miss out on the simple things of, how do you make a throw in work?” Koger said. “Our goal is to be prepared for all of the little situations that I sometimes think get overlooked.”