Simpson hired Cory Chapman to fill the new position of assistant soccer coach. Chapman currently is the men’s assistant soccer coach at Viterbo University in LaCrosse, Wis.

Simpson Soccer Coach Aziz Haffar looks forward to Chapman’s arrival in June. Under the guidance of Haffar, the Simpson soccer program has grown tremendously. Last season there were a total of 53 varsity players, 33 men and 20 women. Currently there are two part-time assistant soccer coaches.

Haffar said Simpson is “extremely blessed” to have the help of those two men. Both men, however, have full-time jobs away from Simpson, and Haffar said the team needs someone on staff.

Chapman’s duties will be to assist with recruiting, coaching and communicating with players. Haffar said, “We’ll work together as a team.”

Currently Haffar does all of the recruiting, which consists of making telephone calls and writing letters to prospective soccer players.

The students will benefit immediately from the presence of an assistant soccer coach. The soccer program is currently losing interested players because there are so many students who want to play. Haffar’s goal is to add a junior varsity program by 2003 so that more students can play soccer at Simpson. Students will also have more contact with coaches.

Haffar is “really excited” about the addition of Chapman to the staff. Haffar refers to Chapman as someone of “good character” who he “can lean on.”

Haffar is confident in the future of Simpson’s soccer program. “We’ve reached many high levels of success. We’ve done so well. In order to continue to reach higher goals, we need to continue to grow,” said Haffar.