Brandon
Head coach Brandon Ermels begins his third year as head coach of the Waldorf Warriors. Ermels became one of the youngest head soccer coaches in the United States when he took over the men’s program in 2005. In terms of wins and losses, no Waldorf team saw greater improvement in 2006 than the men’s soccer squad. After last year’s 6-12 season, a five-game climb from 2005’s 1-16 mark; the Warriors are looking to have another record-setting year.
Ermels’ soccer qualifications, both playing and teaching are extensive. Heavily involved with soccer at a young age, Ermels began playing soccer year-round in 1993 when his family opened up Des Moines’ first ever indoor soccer arena, The Soccer House. He competed and trained in Brazil in 1995 with the Vision Soccer Academy and in 1996 Ermels captained the first and only VSA team to win the Iowa State Cup. Ermels played soccer at Urbandale High School. While at Urbandale, the Jayhawks were state champions in 1998 and the state runner-up in 2000.
After high school, Ermels played at William Penn University where he was a four year captain. In 2004 Ermels was named Men’s Soccer Player-of-the-Year and became the second soccer player in William Penn history to earn a First-Team All Midwest Classic Conference honor. Ermels ended his career second as William Penn’s all-time scoring and all-time points leader.
While in college Ermels spent four summers as Director of Coaches for a prestigious residential sports camp located in Winthrop, Maine. He was responsible for over 250 soccer players each year and guided a coaching staff of over 20 domestic and international coaches. In 2004 Ermels captured, for the first time in the camp’s 100 year history, the ultra competitive Central Maine Camping League (CMCL) Championship Title.
In 2003, Ermels became the youngest head high school coach in Des Moines’ powerful Central Iowa Metro League Conference when he started the boy’s soccer program at Ottumwa high school. After three seasons with the Bulldogs, Ermels still holds Ottumwa’s career and single season wins records for soccer. In the spring of 2007 Ermels became the varsity boy’s soccer coach at Waukee High School. In his first season at Waukee, Ermels compiled a regular season record of 11-3. The season was highlighted by winning the Norwalk Invitational Tournament hosted by eventual 1A state champions Norwalk High School as well as defeating the eventual 2A state champions Ankeny High School who ended their championship season with a 20-0-1 record and a top 20 national ranking.
In March of 2007 the Des Moines Menace announced that Coach Ermels was selected to guide the Menace’s new Super-20 League team. http://menacesoccer.com/news/?id=12171 The Super-20 team serves as a reserve squad for the Premier Development team who won the National Championship in 2005. Ermels was given the opportunity to work closely with the PDL head coach Casey Mann. In 2006 the Des Moines Menace made it to the third round of the US Open when they fell to the Kansas City Wizards 2-1. “Coaching the Super-20’s was an incredible experience for me personally,” said Ermels, “it gave me the opportunity to work with some of the best players in the country as well as the chance to learn from coach Mann, one of the best young soccer minds in professional soccer.” Ermels’ 2007 Super-20 squad consisted of freshman and sophomore standouts from nationally recognized colleges such as Creighton, UNLV, New Mexico, Marquette, Kentucky, Loyola, Coastal Carolina, DePaul, Valparaiso and Drake, as well as two players from the U.S. youth national team. The team lost only one game in their inaugural season, earning them an invitation to the national tournament.
In May of 2007 Iowa Sports Connection Magazine named coach Ermels the ISC Most Valuable Person. http://www.iowasportsconnection.com/iscmag/web_ISC_May07.pdf The article cites Ermels’ contributions to the game at every level a determining factor for his selection.
Coach Ermels’ earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business from William Penn University in 2004. He was president of William Penn’s national business fraternity Phi Beta Lambda in 2003 and received a minor in Physical Education. He is currently working towards his Master’s degree in Business Administration which he is expected to receive in May of 2008. He currently holds his United States Soccer Federation National “B” coaching license, and plans on pursuing his USSF “A” License next summer. Ermels and his Fiancé Kelsey McManus will be married on December 28th 2007 in Windsor Heights, Iowa.