Alex Van der Sluijs is in his third season as the head men’s and women’s soccer coach for Defiance College in 2012. He also served as a graduate assistant for Defiance during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Van der Sluijs is in the process of rebuilding the program and looks to improve upon the records of both the men’s and women’s teams. After coming close to a 2011 conference tournament bid with a 3-4-2 league record for the men’s squad, the team is looking to get over the hump and post it’s first .500-or-better record since 2006 and reach postseason play.

In his first two years at DC, Van der Sluijs has been able to coach up a few Yellow Jacket student-athletes to great success. For the men, there have been four players to earn Second-Team All Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honors along with a First-Team All-HCAC member. On the women’s side, there have also been four athletes to earn Second-Team All-HCAC awards.

Prior to his career at Defiance, Van der Sluijs attended Wilmington College, where he was a three-year starter on the men’s soccer team. The two-time Ohio Athletic Conference Forward of the Year earned First-Team All-OAC and All-Great Lakes Region honors three times, after spending one season as a member of the Wright State program. Van der Slujis has also played professionally for the Cincinnati Kings in 2007 and the Dayton Dutch Lions in 2010.

Van der Sluijs spent the 2007 season as an assistant coach for Wilmington, while also having served as a coach and trainer for the Lakota United Soccer Club, Thunder United Soccer Club and Midwest Soccer Academy.

Van der Sluijs graduated from Wilmington in 2007 with degrees in communication arts and sport management, and graduated in 2010 with a master’s of education from Defiance College.