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WEST SIDE ALLIANCE

SOCCER CLUB

WSA ANNOUNCES GIRLS LEADERSHIP ADDITION: JOHN RHEIN DOC

John Rhein Named Girls Director of Coaching

WSA ANNOUNCES GIRLS LEADERSHIP ADDITION: JOHN RHEIN DOC

JOHN RHEIN NAMED GIRLS DIRECTOR OF COACHING 

WSA Soccer is excited to announce the leadership addition of John Rhein as Girls Director of Coaching.  John will assume a position that had previously been covered by technical directors, and club Executive Directors. The club will announce further modifications to the postion of Girls Director of Coaching in the coming weeks. 

"First it's extremely exciting to align John with this leadership position in our program.  John is one of the most respected, reputable, experienced soccer leaders in our community.  Working alongside John and he working to serve our kids, lead our coaching staff, and engage with our parents, this is simply tremendous for our program," reported WSA Executive Director, Roger Bush. 

"Second, John has roots deep at WSA.  He co-founded the WSA concept along with several others over 20 years ago.  John's reunion to a club he founded, a club he helped lay the foundation for, is great fortune for WSA Soccer. His values align, and his vision is shared.  There is incredible synergy already." 

John will assume this position immediately. It involves a minor restructure by WSA in response to a 5-year period of rapid growth. The addition of Coach Rhein to the position of Girls Director is a first step in some minor restructuring at the club that has been strategically developed to create a better service to the current players, and to help carry forward the club's 5-year vision for future player experience and player development.   

Coach Rhein will begin collaborating with other leadership to help oversee a team and player pool at WSA that is the largest in Oklahoma soccer and is experiencing ongoing rapid growth.  In several age divisions WSA boasts as many as 10 teams and over 150 players in a single age division.   

John's focus will be the WSA-Central geographic footprint, with an objective to connect and engage with WSA's community clubs.   John will participate and consult with the Girls Youth Academy Director, bridging connections between WSA's Youth Academy program and the various competitive league platforms that are fed by WSA's Youth Academy, from ECNL-RL to OPC.  He will lead coaches, consult with technical directors, and will continue his leadership position within the ECNL-RL program.  John will also be charged with helping to faciliate college search proceses as players transition vertically to the college prospect age. 

John has coached numerous players that went on to successful collegiate careers, and several have circled back into the soccer community as parents of the next generation, and many as prominent coaches in the Oklahoma soccer community.  His experience is vast and wide, in the arena of teaching, leading, coaching, mentoring, and administrating.  He has generated a long list of accolades and accomplishments that are of hall-of-fame caliber.  

JOHN RHEIN'S SOCCER HISTORY 

John Rhein was one of the founding members of West Side Alliance in 1992 but had begun his coaching career in 1989 when he took over a u12 boys team that would become known as Sandite SC '76. The following year he would begin coaching a ‘79 boys team under the same banner. Both of these teams would be among the first WSA teams.


WSA Club Photo, 1992, picturing several of Coach Rhein's first teams and players coached. 
 

Shortly afterwards Rhein would take over as the High School girls coach at Charles Page HS and he moved over to coaching girls teams at the newly formed WSA. Rhein coached the ‘80, ‘81, ‘83, ‘85 girls at WSA as well as serving as co-Director with current WSA Executive Director, Roger Bush.
 

In 1997 Rhein would leave WSA to assume a position at Hurricane Futbal Club. While at Hurricane, Rhein was part a staff that included then Director Justin Elkington, now Asssociate Head Coach at Oklahoma State; Jim Rhein, now Head Coach at Tulsa University; and Kerry Shubert, current ECNL-RL Director at WSA; as well as current WSA staff coaches David Bolding, Todd Pemberton, Richard Beattie, Doug Melton, Ken Richardson, and Kenny Killingsworth. 

 

At HFC Rhein coached some of Oklahoma’s finest girls teams, including the ‘85, ‘95, and ‘97 teams to name a few and won 8 OSA State Championships, was 3-time USYS Region 3 Finalist, and 2-time Region 3 semi-finalist.  After Elkington and Jim Rhein left for the college game, Rhein assumed the position of Director of Coaching.

 

In 2012 Hurricane merged with local rival club TSC to form TSC Hurricane in order to secure a bid within the Elite Club National League (ECNL). As HFC Director, Rhein was instrumental in merging of the two clubs. In the newly formed TSCH, Rhein served as Girls Director as well as a staff coach within the ECNL, PLW, SRPL, and ECNL-RL staff.

 

Changes and circumstances led Rhein to decide to return to his roots and he rejoined West Side Alliance in June of 2020. In addition to his duties as Girls Director, he also serves on the ECNL-RL staff.

 

John has coached numerous players that went on to successful collegiate careers, and several players who have become successful coaches.  Rhein's coaching tree is extensive and his roots are deep in the Oklahoma soccer community. 

 

A member of the first team at Charles Page HS in 1984, Rhein graduated from CPHS in 1985. Rhein played college soccer at NSU, before finishing his degree at OSU.
 

Rhein was also a longtime high school soccer coach, serving as Girls Coach at Charles Page, 1990-97; Girls Coach at Owasso HS 1998-1999; and Boys Coach at Owasso HS from 2000-2007.
 

Rhein holds a USSF National “C” license as well as a USYS National Youth License.