Assistant Coach Kyle Venter is entering his second season at Iowa. Venter assists with all aspects of the Hawkeye program and also helps spearhead the Hawkeye player evaluation and recruiting process.
Venter joined the Hawkeyes following his most recent stint as Interim Head Coach at the University of Cincinnati.
In his first season, Venter helped guide Iowa to the second Big Ten Tournament Championship in program history. The Hawkeyes downed three ranked opponents for the first time during the postseason run.
Iowa finished 13-5-4 overall in 2023, including a 6-0-1 non-conference start and a 3-4-3 record in conference play. Iowa went 3-2-1 against ranked competition. The Hawkeyes earned the eighth and final seed to the Big Ten Tournament by a single point in the league standings before downing No. 12 Michigan State (2-1), No. 5 Penn State (1-0) and No. 12 Wisconsin (1-0) en route to their second trophy in four seasons. Iowa was the lowest seed in Big Ten history to win the conference tournament.
Following the Big Ten Tournament Title, Iowa ascended to the highest major national rankings in program history, jumping to No. 14 in the College Soccer News ranking and No. 17 according to Top Drawer Soccer. Iowa finished the regular season at 30th in the RPI, earning an NCAA Tournament fifth-seed.
The Hawkeyes earned the second NCAA Tournament win in program history with a victory over Bucknell, 2-0. The match was played before a program-record crowd of 2,639 at the Iowa Soccer Complex. Iowa fell in the Second Round to fourth-seeded Georgia, 3-2, at Riggs Field in Clemson, South Carolina.
The Hawkeye defense earned a program record 13 shutouts during the 2023 season. Iowa outscored opponents 36-17 with stifling advantages in shots (307-164) and shots on goal (149-75).
Senior goalkeeper Macy Enneking tied for fifth in the nation in shutouts, posting a new school single-season record 12.5 clean sheets. Enneking finished the year ranked third for career shutouts (22) and fourth in career wins (26) among all-time Hawkeye goalkeepers.
Fourteen different Hawkeyes contributed to Iowa’s 36 goals. Senior Kelli McGroarty, a transfer student from La Salle, led the way with 18 points. McGroarty and seventh-year Josie Durr tied for an Iowa-best seven goals, with juniors Elle Otto (13) and Kenzie Roling (11) also contributing double-digit point figures.
Fifth-year Samantha Cary was named Second Team All-Big Ten. Freshman Sofia Bush was an All-Big Ten Freshman, while redshirt junior Zoë Bessert earned conference sportsmanship honors. In the classroom, five Hawkeyes were named CSC Academic-All District, a program record.
Venter came to Iowa with a wealth of experience as both a coach and former player.
In one season coaching defense as an assistant at Cincinnati, Venter improved the Bearcats’ goals against average from 1.53 (2021) to 1.00 (2022). Venter took over the program as Interim Head Coach in the fall of 2022 during the program’s change in leadership.
Prior to his experience at Cincinnati (June 2022-January 2023), Venter held assistant coaching positions at Florida during the 2021 season and Arizona from Nov. 2020 to May 2021. Venter got his coaching start at Arizona as a volunteer assistant in 2019.
While in Gainesville, Venter mentored goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg in her first season as a starter for the Gators. Under his tutelage, Goldberg led the SEC with 4.80 saves per game, including 13 saves against No. 20 South Florida.
At Arizona, Venter helped his team reach the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. 10 shutouts by the Wildcat defense that year marked a program-best for Arizona since the 2016 season.
Over his first two seasons, Venter helped improve Arizona’s goals against average from 1.41 to 0.79, including six shutouts during the shortened Spring 2021 season. He helped the Wildcats to a winning 21-13-3 (.611) record over that span. Venter was elevated from volunteer to assistant coach following the spring campaign.
Venter played seven years professionally following a storied collegiate career at the University of New Mexico. At New Mexico, Venter became the program’s first three-time All-American and, as a senior, helped lead the Lobos to the 2013 NCAA College Cup.
Venter was a Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Cup Trophy semifinalist in 2013, also picking up that season’s Conference USA Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors. He also earned spots on the 2012 NSCAA Scholar All-America and 2013 Conference USA All-Academic teams.
Venter finished his career as New Mexico’s all-time leader in minutes played (7,859) and was the first Lobo ever to earn Senior CLASS Award Team honors. New Mexico advanced to NCAA postseason play during each of Venter’s seasons in Albuquerque.
As a professional, Venter was drafted 23rd overall in the 2013 Major League Soccer SuperDraft by the Los Angeles Galaxy. He would help Los Angeles to an MLS Cup victory that season.
Venter also played professional for the Tulsa Roughnecks (USL), the Ottawa Fury (NASL/USL) and Penn FC (USL). He was captain for the USL League One sides, FC Tucson and the Richmond Kickers.
Venter was trusted as the USL Player’s Association team representative for FC Tucson and Richmond, where he advised and coordinated clubs through a successful unionization process for all USL League One athletes. Venter also helped teams successfully negotiate a Return to Play Agreement between the USLPA and USL League One during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Venter graduated with a bachelor’s in Business degree in Human Resources Management and Organizational Leadership from the University of New Mexico in December of 2013.