New addition to women’s soccer

Melanie Chandler, who is already familiar with the Rio Grande Valley, hopes to change the student athletes’ lives as the new assistant coach for the women’s soccer team. 

Chandler was previously head coach for Schreiner University’s soccer program and the assistant coach at Waldorf University. 

She started her undergrad at Waldorf University before transferring to Colorado Mesa University and earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. After that, Chandler returned to Waldorf to earn her master’s degree in organizational leadership with a focus in sports management.

She said she came to the Rio Grande Valley to visit a friend years ago and fell in love with it, then while working as a head coach at Schreiner University, she would visit the Valley to recruit.

After a colleague mentioned Chandler’s name to women’s soccer head coach Mark Foster and associate head coach Audra Larson, she spoke with them over the phone and later met with them in person.

One difference Chandler said she is excited for is the high level of competition.

“It’s a different division, different conferences,” Chandler said. “Waldorf [participated in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics] and then Schreiner was a Division 3, and so making the jump from NAIA to D3, and then to D1, it’s exciting.”

The new assistant coach said her philosophy for coaching soccer was to make a difference in the student athlete’s lives, referencing messages she has received from former athletes about the impact she had on them.

Chandler was hired on April 3 and has started meeting the players since.

“It’s been really good just getting to know them,” she said. “So, I’m super excited for that. And obviously, we’ll have a new group coming in too for this following year and, you know, kind of just building that program up.”

Chandler is looking forward to seeing the season develop as preseason approaches in August.

She said it is always exciting to see new facilities being constructed and watching the growth. 

“So for me, to join this staff and this program during a time like this in this university, where they’re not just only building soccer facilities, but football, and everyone else was getting additions as well, like, it’s an exciting time to be a part of UTRGV,” Chandler said. 

She said Foster is great and hopes to continue learning from him and Larson.

“They have a really good background,” Chandler said. “And very reputable status in the sense of where they come from, and what they’ve done with other programs for them to be here and then want me as part of the staff.”

Foster said it was incredible to have someone who has head coaching experience in the staff.

“Someone who is going to be in line with [Larson] and myself’s vision but also bring something different to the coaching staff, because coaches have to complement each other,” he said.

The university could not have found a better candidate, Foster said, adding that Chandler has already started to show how she is a good addition to the staff.

Foster said he could tell Chandler cared for the student athletes and really wanted to make a difference in their lives.

“Sometimes we can get focused on winning and losing,” he said. “Soccer X’s and O’s is when we forget that we’re coaching people and we’re coaching young ladies, young ladies that have more in their life than just soccer, you know? They’ve got academics, life as well.”

The goals for the soccer program are to get to a place where they are on the higher end of competition and Chandler believes the program can get to that point, Foster said.

Multidisciplinary senior and forward Jeweleen Reuille said it was nice to have another coach on the staff.

“I think it’s gonna be nice to have more hands on deck and then just another new perspective,” Reuille said. “I also think her coming from a different division, it will help them see different insights of the game, and things that we can add to our game to, hopefully, do better than last season.”

She said the dynamic with the team changed and that since Chandler was hired, the team has been on the “up and up.”