By Delaney Crawford
A well-known face around Hood athletics has stepped in to fill the vacant spot at the helm of the men’s soccer team.
Hood soccer alum and former assistant coach Kyle Bulgarelli has been selected as the new head coach of men’s soccer.
Bulgarelli was a four-year starter at center back and a member of the senior class that had the most wins in program history. He played and started every game of his collegiate career and was a three-year captain.
As a player, Bulgarelli was recognized as the MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week once and named Defensive MVP of the Drew Fall Festival in 2016.
Following his graduation in 2018, Bulgarelli attended grad school at Hood and was the men’s team graduate assistant for those two years.
After finishing grad school with a Master of Science in environmental biology, Bulgarelli still wasn’t ready to leave the Hood community.
With his graduate degree finished, he became an admissions counselor for Hood in June 2020, while also volunteering as an assistant coach to the men’s soccer team.
When former head coach Jesse Zafiratos departed this past fall, the athletics department said that Bulgarelli seemed to be the perfect next step for the team.
“Kyle’s familiarity with the program having been here for eight years, first as a player then as an assistant coach, will lessen the learning curve that most new coaches face,” Assistant Director of Athletics Geoff Goyne said. “He’s been involved with recruiting in athletics and as an admissions counselor, which will give him a unique perspective on recruiting prospective students to the college.”
Bulgarelli will immediately start his duties as head coach, running meetings, recruiting, and hosting practices for the upcoming spring season while still working in admissions. In May there will be a transition period where Bulgarelli will resign his position as an admissions counselor and change offices to athletics.
“I loved working with admissions but ultimately soccer is where my passion is,” Bulgarelli said.
Managing both jobs for the next four months may seem challenging, but Bulgarelli is an old pro at managing a hefty workload.
For the past year and half while working full time as an admissions counselor, Bulgarelli has never stopped coaching soccer. From being involved with Hood’s team, to coaching rec teams, and even becoming the head coach at St. John’s College Prep, he knew he always wanted to be involved with soccer and made it work for him to do so.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to lead and continue to develop a program that has given so much to me,” Bulgarelli said.
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