By Delaney Crawford<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A well-known face around Hood athletics has stepped in to fill the vacant spot at the helm of the men\u2019s soccer team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hood soccer alum and former assistant coach Kyle Bulgarelli has been selected as the new head coach of men\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bulgarelli\u00a0was 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following his graduation in 2018, Bulgarelli attended grad school at Hood and was the men\u2019s team graduate assistant for those two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After finishing grad school with a Master of Science in environmental biology, Bulgarelli still wasn\u2019t ready to leave the Hood community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s soccer team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKyle\u2019s 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,\u201d Assistant Director of Athletics Geoff Goyne said. \u201cHe\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI loved working with admissions but ultimately soccer is where my passion is,\u201d Bulgarelli said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Managing both jobs for the next four months may seem challenging, but Bulgarelli is an old pro at managing a hefty workload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s team, to coaching rec teams, and even becoming the head coach at St. John\u2019s College Prep, he knew he always wanted to be involved with soccer and made it work for him to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited for the opportunity to lead and continue to develop a program that has given so much to me,\u201d Bulgarelli said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"