Photo courtesy of Nolan Walsh.
Nolan Walsh, far right, is the new director of coaching for the Vestavia Hills Soccer Club.
The Vestavia Hills Soccer Club in April announced Nolan Walsh as the club’s new director of coaching.
Walsh takes over for Carlo Schiavoni, who has served as coaching director since 2015.
A Chicago native, Walsh joined the coaching staff at VHSC after moving to Birmingham with his wife, Carissa, to be near her family two years ago. Prior to joining VHSC, Walsh was the administrator and a coach with Chicago FC United Soccer Club, a premier soccer club fielding youth programs and a semi-professional team in Chicago.
Walsh had hopes of eventually becoming a coaching director and spent the last two years learning the ropes under Schiavoni, as well as Executive Director Rocky Harmon and Director of Soccer Luke Whittle.
Walsh said he is honored to be named coaching director and is looking forward to leading the club into the future.
“To become the director of coaching for a club is something I had been hoping could be in the works,” Walsh said. “I worked under Carlo, which was an amazing opportunity, and he taught me a lot. I’ve really enjoyed working under Rocky and have learned so much from him and Luke. They’ve just been so welcoming since I first got here.”
Harmon said Walsh has been a key member of the coaching staff since his arrival in 2022, and he is thrilled to fill the coaching director position with a member of the club’s coaching staff.
“We’re just overjoyed to be able to promote from within and have him take over as our director of coaching,” Harmon said. “He’s very organized, knowledgeable of the sport and has a great rapport with the kids and the parents.”
It’s hard to be able to do all those things, Harmon said. “He checks all the boxes for us, and we’re excited to get someone who’s dedicated to the Vestavia Hills soccer program.”
Walsh played collegiate soccer at Trinity International University, a private Christian university in Deerfield, Illinois, and played close to 15 years at the club level before injuries forced him to hang up his cleats. He began his coaching career at Chicago FC United, eventually working his way up to administrator, more of a desk job than a coaching position.
Once Walsh and his wife decided to move to Birmingham, a fellow coach suggested that he contact VHSC about coaching opportunities. He sent an email to Harmon, who responded almost immediately, inviting Walsh to come coach during a session over spring break.
Now in his role as coaching director, Walsh said he would like all of the club’s coaches to increase their coaching education in order to help the players grow as athletes and people.
“One of the things that we as coaches have been talking about is getting higher licenses so that we can start articulating a lot more higher concepts to our players and growing them in that way,” Walsh said. “We really want to make sure that these players are growing both on and off the field.”
Learn more about Walsh and the Vestavia Hills Soccer Club at vestaviasoccer.com.
