After the recent hiring of Alec Koski, ‘20, as director of soccer operations for the Lehigh men’s soccer team, the number of Koskis involved in the program jumped to five.
The five Koskis include three players, head coach Dean Koski and Alec Koski as director of operations. Alec Koski worked for the team during his undergraduate years as a student manager/coach and plans to take on a variety of responsibilities in his new role.
“At practice, I have also taken up more of a coaching responsibility, as I’ve recently started to run warm-ups, technical training (ball work) and some functional fitness activities,” Alec Koski said. “Moving forward, I will likely be doing a lot of planning regarding scheduling, travel and a great deal of analysis once we get into playing games.”
While he had a lot of experience with the program as a student, Alec Koski also interned with Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire FC and said he learned valuable skills that will be useful in the future. Working with a Major League Soccer team is quite different from working with the university’s soccer program, he said — especially when four family members are also in the program — but it has prepared him for the course ahead.
The hiring process for Alec Koski was a bit different than normal, mostly because of his past experience with the team and because his father is the coach. At the end of his undergraduate experience, he told the coaching staff he wanted to keep working with the team in a more administrative role while still being able to gain coaching knowledge and experience.
Associate head coach Ryan Hess said he has complete faith in Alec Koski’s ability to have success in his new job, also noting how he is open-minded and interested in learning the game.
“It was an easy decision for us to add Alec to the staff,” Hess said. “He knows the team and the players well, and his relationships with the players and staff will make him a valuable addition. Alec’s experiences with the team will help tremendously.”
Aside from what Alec Koski’s everyday role will be with the team, he will also be accompanied by his family for a large portion of the time. Alec’s youngest brother, Blake, joined the team in 2020.
Trevor Koski, a senior midfielder and another one of Alec’s brothers, said it is a rare experience to have most of his family at the school but feels it is no different from the rest of their lives.
Trevor Koski said the family has always been close.
“It definitely adds a layer of comfort ability having all of them here, both on and off the field,” Trevor Koski said. “I’d say the best part of all of this is that my youngest brother Blake now is the last of the Koskis without a Patriot League Championship ring, so he has a chance to complete both a childhood and family dream.”
While it is uncommon for such a large number of family members to be a part of one athletics program, the Koskis are all focused on getting another Patriot League Championship as soon as they can get back on the field.
With Alec Koski being such a soccer fanatic, he said he has enjoyed being able to watch two of his brothers grow as players throughout the years and is excited to watch Blake do the same.
“The only thing left to do is win another championship together,” Alec Koski said.
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