Alumnus of Yavapai Community College, class of 1991
Yavapai Community College has announced the hiring of Andre Luciano as the new head coach of the men’s soccer program.
Coach Luciano (Photo NAUathletics.com)
Mr. Luciano is an alumnus of the 1991 class at Yavapai Community College. He was an athlete on the Men’s Soccer team from 1989 – 91 and was a member of N-J-C-A-A National Championship team of 1990 being named I-S-A-A / Adidas Goalkeeper of the Year and the N-J-C-A-A Tournament Most Valuable Goalkeeper. After Yavapai Community College, Mr. Luciano attended Indiana University where he earned the distinction as one of the top goalkeepers in the country. He is credited with leading his team to two Big Ten titles and two trips to the N-J-C-A-A National Tournament.
After graduating from Indiana University, Mr. Luciano spent two seasons as an assistant for the University of Arizona soccer program. He has also worked with Washington, Arizona and Nevada Olympic Development Programs (ODP), and was an assistant coach for the Utah State women’s program in 1998.
In 2018 Mr. Luciano resigned from Northern Arizona University where he had been the soccer coach for eighteen seasons. Mr. Lucian speaks seven languages. He calls his U.S. hometown Las Vegas, Nevada although he will quickly tell you that his actual hometown is São Paulo, Brazil.
In an interview regarding the appointment to Yavapai Community College, Mr. Luciano said that “[i]t has been a dream of mine for 30 years to return to a place that I have called home and spoken so fondly of throughout my career as a player and coach. I owe [former Yavapai College Men’s Soccer Head Coach] Mike Pantalione an incredible amount of gratitude for believing in me as a 19-year-old from Las Vegas and changing my life by creating a program that has been synonymous with success in the classroom and on the field. I also would like to thank Athletic Director Brad Clifford for entrusting me with the responsibility of not only being the coach but a mentor for the young men that wear the uniform for Yavapai College Soccer.”
The first game for the Community College soccer team in the Covid-19 delayed season will be Thursday, April 1 against the College of Southern Nevada.