Keith Bleyer is entering his first season as the First Assistant Coach for FC Minneapolis Premier Team of the United Premier Soccer League. Bleyer holds the highest certifications offered to coaches, including a US Soccer National A Coaching License (earned on three separate occasions) and United Soccer Coaches National Premier and Director of Coaching Diplomas.
He joins the City Lions after spending seven years in the Seattle area leading both college and club teams. Most recently he was a head coach at Green River College, where he relaunched the women’s program after a two-year hiatus, recruiting over 20 players in a six-month period. Bleyer led the Gators to ten wins over two seasons and saw eight players on his squad selected for All-NWAC honors.
Bleyer also served as a director and head coach of top teams at three large Seattle area clubs: Valor Soccer, Pacific Northwest, and ISC Gunners. He has also led squads and managed clubs in Oregon and Colorado.
As a player, he was a member of the Under 16 USA Youth National Team pool and was named one of the nation’s ‘Top 50’ prep recruits by Soccer America magazine. Bleyer went on to play NCAA Division 1 soccer at Santa Clara (CA) University and graduated with a BA degree in Communications. He has also been a radio and TV broadcaster for Major League Soccer teams for nearly twenty years, most recently as a radio analyst for the Portland Timbers.
Keith has been married to his wife Kelly since 1996 and they are the parents of twins Lauren and Evan, who is a current NCAA D3 student-athlete in Oregon and will be playing for FC Minneapolis this summer.
