Top Female Coach Appointed As Director of Coaching
The Michigan Hawks Soccer Club, since its inception in 1974, has helped nearly one thousand young women achieve their potential in athletics and find a pathway to college soccer.
Youth Soccer News: The Michigan Hawks has always been a leader in the youth soccer landscape and has visibly lived up to its responsibility to move the female youth soccer game forward.
Now, the Michigan Hawks, a national youth soccer powerhouse has gone one step further in promoting women in soccer and has appointed Michele Krzisnik, a former captain of the University of Michigan’s women’s soccer team to Director of Coaching.
The Hawks believes it is an opportune time to have one of the leading female clubs in the country to be under the guidance of one of its brightest coaches.
Krzisnik, who assumes the role as of March 1, has a long history of helping girls reach their potential and actually began her youth soccer playing career at the Michigan Hawks.
“Michele has been an important part of the Hawks’ success over the last 10 years as a coach and as an age group Technical Advisor,” said Doug Landefeld, Hawks’ Executive Director.
“Each year, as a board, we look for things that will move us forward and to give each player an exceptional experience,” said Landefeld who has been with the club for 25 years. “Michele has been an integral part of building this club and is an outstanding role model for our players.”
“We are always looking for programming to help continue and create an environment for our girls where they can compete and excel at all levels. We believe that Michele’s leadership will be an integral part of taking us to where we want to go,” said Landefeld.
When asked how he would describe Krzisnik, Landefeld said, “Michele is a lot like our players, she confident, strong-willed and talented. She encourages our girls to be competitive. She was a Hawk and is still a Hawk and we are proud to have her as our new DOC.”
“I am grateful to have this opportunity with the club where I grew up as a player and developed as a coach,” said Krzisnik. “My hope is that I empower our girls to want and achieve more in soccer and in life. I am humbled to accept the role of creating and implementing our vision of player development. I look forward to serving the needs all of the girls, families, and coaches who are part of the Michigan Hawks.”
Krzisnik is the only female coach coaching a top-level girls’ team in Michigan and will become one of the few female DOC’s across the country.
As the club’s DOC, she will be responsible for overseeing all the aspects of the day-to-day operation of the club, including staff development, coaching curriculum, game model and teaching methodology.
Krzisnik has a distinguished coaching career since joining the Michigan Hawks in 1997, being named NSCAA National Coach of the Year for Youth Girls and MSYSA Youth Coach of the Year in 2014. She has led teams to two Region II championships (2009,2014), as well as a national finalist in 2014 and ECNL Final Four in 2017. In addition, she has coached three Gatorade Players of the Year.
Krzisnik collegiate coaching experience includes serving as assistant coach at Oakland University (2000-2001) and was women’s head coach at St. Mary’s College (1997-1998).
One on One Interview with Michele Krzisnik coming soon.
