New coach, same strive for WAC championship

Newly hired women’s soccer head coach Mark Foster hopes he can replicate his success at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at UTRGV, bringing along former assistant head coach Audra Larson to help achieve it. 

Hired March 18, Foster spent the last four seasons (2018-21)  at Little Rock. After winning the school’s first-ever Sun Belt Conference in 2018 and first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, he hopes he can do the same at UTRGV. 

“It’s been really good to be here,” Foster said. “Everybody has been so welcoming. And the girls have been brilliant to work with. They’ve put a lot of work in and they’re showing some really good quality. I’m excited to get to know them better as players and people.” 

Foster said relationships are “massive” to him and upon deciding to take the head coaching job, his connection with Vice President and Athletics Director Chasse Conque was one of the reasons for it. 

“He wants every program to be as good as it can be,” he said. “And he wants to support … that kind of support. Gosh, you can’t beat it. That doesn’t exist at all in some schools and all athletic departments aren’t like that. So, we’re lucky to have an athletic director like that.”

This is the second time Conque has hired Foster for a head coaching job, as he hired Foster at Little Rock in 2018.

Foster said they want to bring UTRGV its first-ever Western Athletic Conference championship. 

”It’s not very often in your career, maybe ever, you get to hire somebody twice,” Conque said. “Very familiar with Mark, know how he leads, know how he treats his young ladies and what he’s about as a person and as a coach.” 

Another Little Rock Trojan to join the Vaqueras is Assistant Head Coach Audra Larson. 

“I’m really excited,” Larson said. “The weather’s wonderful, you know, just to be a part of this athletic department, it’s something really special. … Really excited to work with coach Foster again. I’ve worked alongside him for four years, won a championship and really excited to do something special here.” 

Spending the last four seasons at Little Rock as well, Larson’s primary focus was on goalkeepers as she played goalie for Messiah University. She set an NCAA record for men’s and women’s soccer with 68 career shutouts.

“I’ll be responsible for the goalkeepers here as well,” Larson said. “And then assisting and helping coach Foster and coach Alyssa [Gregory] with other aspects of the program. So I’m excited to get to work with the goalkeepers. … There’s a ton of massive potential with them.”

Honored that she decided to come to UTRGV with him, Foster said Larson believes in what they can achieve here with the Vaqueras and will certainly make the team better. 

Conque said Larson’s playing at a high level in her collegiate career will benefit the women’s soccer team. 

“We got a package deal,” he said. “I’m really excited and fortunate that they believed in us and wanted to do it again.” 

Asked what experiences he will bring from being the head coach at Little Rock to UTRGV, Foster replied, “My philosophy hasn’t really changed. At Little Rock, I tried to always make it about the players and tell them it’s more than winning some soccer games. I think this group is already starting to respond to it and they’re excited for the future.”

Foster described his coaching style as being patient but passionate at the same time. 

“I want to be a coach that is passionate and brings that joy, and can inspire players to enjoy the game and … take the fear out of it,” he said. 

Junior defender Marcy Garza told The Rider she and the team have really enjoyed the first two weeks of practice with Foster. 

“We’ve all been really putting in a lot of work,” the Brownsville native said. “And he’s helped to motivate us and, like, get prepared for what he expects in the fall.” 

Asked what Foster has focused on with the team for its first several weeks of practice, Garza replied, “I think our main focus has been our mentality and growing as a team with unity and drive and, really, just working as individuals. Because he’s been teaching us that, as we work on ourselves and compete to better ourselves, that’s when it’ll be easier in games for us to compete as a team, especially in the fall, when we start working towards our team formation and season.”