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Sky Blue FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced that David Hodgson will return to its coaching staff in 2018 as an assistant coach for the second consecutive season. Hodgson will serve as an assistant to recently appointed head coach Denise Reddy.
“Dave and I have worked together in the past, and we understand each other’s dynamics and idiosyncrasies,” said Reddy in a team press release. “He has an extraordinary soccer brain and passion for the game that will help bring this environment to the next level.”
During Hodgson's first season with Sky Blue FC, he was appointed as "game day coach" after former SBFC head coach Christy Holly resigned from his position on August 16. In Hodgson's first match at the helm, forward Sam Kerr scored four second-half goals to lead the New Jersey club to an unbelievable 5-4 comeback victory against Seattle Reign FC. He finished the year with a 3-2-1 record as the game day coach.
A native of Liverpool, England, Hodgson established his coaching roots as an assistant coach for the St. Peter’s College women’s soccer team in Jersey City, N.J. He then served as the head women’s soccer coach at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Penn., before serving as an assistant for Sky Blue FC from 2008-09. After two stints as the assistant women’s soccer coach at Drew University (2004-08 and again from 2010-13), he served as the head coach of the women’s soccer program at Rutgers University in Camden, N.J from 2015-16. Additionally, he currently works at the club level with Sky Blue FC Development Academy Partner PDA.
“I am excited to return to Sky Blue FC for the 2018 season, and I am very proud to have been asked by Denise to be her assistant coach,” said Hodgson in a team press release. “Denise has been a trusted friend and mentor for a long time, and I am delighted to be working with her again. She is someone I can learn from every day, both on and off the field, and I am looking forward to assisting her with the exciting vision she has for our club. This is a great time to be involved with Sky Blue FC as a player, coach and fan.”
Hodgson graduated from Worcester University in the United Kingdom in 2000 with a B.S. in Sports & Exercise Studies. He received his ESL/TEFL Diploma through Cambridge University in 2000, allowing him to teach English as a second and foreign language, and obtained a M.S. in Exercise Science and Health Promotion from California University of Pennsylvania in 2013. He became a Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and is a Certified Speed Coach by the National Association of Speed & Explosion (NASE). A New Jersey state firefighter, he also has an Advanced National Diploma from the NSCAA.