Bob Barry has been hired by Willamette University to coach the Bearcats men's soccer team starting in August. Barry to coach Willamette
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comHe coached boys teams for 29 years in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu at Mid-Pacific, St. Louis and Iolani, winning four league titles and five state crowns with the Raiders.
Barry was an assistant coach at Massachusetts for a year while obtaining his master's degree in sports management, was on the Richmond staff in 1996, then coached the Brigham Young-Hawaii men for three seasons before the sport was dropped when 10 schools left the Pacific West Conference.
He spent all day Feb. 16 interviewing for the position at the Salem, Ore., campus and received a telephone call Friday from Willamette athletic director Mark Majeski, offering him the job.
"I'm very excited. The student profile at Willamette is what really excited me. I've been living with that for 31 years at Iolani," said Barry.
This year's freshman class at Willamette averaged 1280 on the SAT exam and a 3.7 high school grade point average.
"When I went for the interview, I wanted to make sure I like the area. I wanted to see what kind of a person the athletic director was and I wanted to get to know my coaching peers," Barry said.
"Everybody was so pleasant. The facilities are great, and it's not like I'm walking into a brand new program. There are 19 returning players. It's a great opportunity."
Barry, who teaches French at Iolani, will retire from the school at the end of the school year. He will continue to spend a considerable amount of time in Hawaii and wants to continue his association with the Windward Soccer Club, where he is director of coaching and player development. He also wants to recruit Hawaii players.
He met with several of the returning players and noted last fall's team scored 19 goals, but allowed 21.
"I told them that has to change. I want to instill in them that our home field is our house and we can't let people come in and beat us. If we win our home games and split on the road, we have a good chance of winning the conference," Barry said.
Willamette is a member of the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference with Linfield, Whitworth, Whitman, George Fox, Pacific, Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound.
The Bearcats play conference opponents on a home-and-home basis (14 games), which leaves them six nonconference matches to prepare for league play.
He will take over for Jim Tursi, who coached both the men and women the past few years. His women reached the final four of the NCAA tournament last fall.
Notes: One of Willamette's returning players is Mike Semenza, a striker from Punahou who will be a senior this fall. ... One person on the Bearcats' athletic staff, David Wong, introduced himself to Barry and said he had played against Barry's Iolani team. Wong, in his 11th season as Willamette's baseball coach, was a goalkeeper for Damien.