IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa soccer team welcomes assistant coach Kyle Venter to the program. He joins the Hawkeyes following his most recent stint as the interim head coach at the University of Cincinnati.
Venter brings a wealth of experience as both a coach and former player. He will assist with all aspects of the Iowa program, including bringing to bear his extensive experience with defense and goalkeeping.
“I am excited to be coming on board at Iowa,” said Venter. “I want to thank Dave and the administration at Iowa for the opportunity to work alongside some incredible, passionate people here in Iowa City.
“I can’t wait to get to work and to help continue to grow this program and its student-athletes in every way we can.”
“We are excited to welcome Kyle to the University of Iowa, Iowa City and the Hawkeye soccer program,” said head coach Dave DiIanni. “As the process to fill our open position began, Kyle’s name continued to come up amongst some of the best coaches in the country who were recommending that I speak with him about the opening. He is an incredibly passionate individual who loves the game of soccer and will give his all to our student-athletes to help develop and coach them into their best versions of themselves.”
“Kyle will have many roles within our program, but we will ask that he takes the lead in the evaluation and recruitment of future Hawkeyes across the country. His drive and commitment to evaluate and connect with recruits, is one of the best in the country.”
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 last season 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. The program’s 10 shutouts were the best for the program since the 2016.
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 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, where he earned a business degree in human resources management and organizational leadership.
At New Mexico, Venter became the program’s first three-time All-American and he helped lead the Lobos to the 2013 NCAA College Cup as a senior.
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 professionally 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.