Peter Albright, the head women's soccer coach, sits in his spacious office in the Robins Center waiting for the call to go pick up a recruit from the airport.
Albright came to the University of Richmond in 1996 after coaching men's soccer for 15 years at his alma mater, Johnson State College in Vermont.
When he was 23 years old, Albright became the men's soccer coach at Johnson State and was one of the youngest collegiate coaches at the time. He held that position for eight years before becoming the director of athletics for the last seven.
At Johnson State, he coached Jim DeRose, an all-American soccer player. DeRose, who was the men's assistant soccer coach at the University of Richmond in 1995, told Albright about the women's soccer coaching opportunity, Albright said.
"I took a lot on faith coming down here," Albright said. "I sort of started over."
There were no uniforms, no balls, no players, no office and no budget, he said.
"It was a neat experience going from the North to the South, public to private, men to women, and a very poor school to a wealthy school," he said. "But it was soccer."
Albright brought his wife and two young children to Virginia with him and said he had felt that the new career choice was life changing. He had once planned on being a high school math teacher and soccer coach, earning a BA in mathematics and a master's in education, he said.
Both of Albright's children play on soccer teams at Richmond. Allie, a junior, is the goalkeeper for the women's soccer team and Timmy, a freshman, is a forward on the men's soccer team.
This marks Albright's 15th year at the university and he manages to have a basic schedule although no day is exactly the same, he said.
Albright mapped out his typical Monday through Thursday schedule during our interview:
8 a.m.: Staff meeting with assistant coaches Jen Woodie, '06 VCU, and Peter Nash to discuss team issues, individual challenges, recruitment, training routines and team travel.
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9-11 a.m.: Meet with players to discuss any injuries, illnesses, playing time, etc.
12 p.m.: Head to Robins Stadium for practice
12:30-2:30 p.m.: Team Practice
3 p.m.: A second staff meeting to discuss how practice went (i.e. go over improvements, standout players, etc.)
4:30-5 p.m.: End of the day at Richmond
Fridays and Sundays are game days and the team gets Saturdays off, Albright said.
Albright, Woodie and Nash coach the Richmond Strikers soccer club, a non-profit organization serving the Greater Richmond area, after leaving the women's soccer team at Richmond for the day.
"There aren't many days off in the fall; from Aug. 2 to the middle of November, it's non-stop," Albright said.
Albright prepares for three recruits to shadow the women's team and watch the home game. He is directly involved in the recruiting process and even went to visit a prospective goalkeeper in New Hampshire.
"Recruiting is year round," he said. "We typically go to six to eight major events per year, but we also make individual visits."
Four to five hundred high school students contact the women's soccer department yearly, but many have shortcomings in academics or athletic ability, Albright said.
"Our goal is always to win the Atlantic 10 championship and qualify for post-season play," Albright said.
Fourteen teams compete in the A-10 and only six make it to the tournament.
"We have won it once and we've qualified for the tournament numerous times," he said. "I think we have one of the strongest teams in the program's history."
He said he attributes that success to the "veteran" team that has a grasp of the components needed to win games: strong goalkeeping, depth, speed, consistent playing style, and a consistent lineup.
"This could be a special season," Albright said.
He leaves to pick up the recruit from the airport.
Contact reporter Laila Hart at laila.hart@richmond.edu
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