Bluefield State College

Bluefield State Athletics
219 Rock Street Bluefield, WV 24701

Division 2 West Virginia Northeast

Public Small Developing team

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Coaches

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Scott Forster

2023-24 marks the third competitive season for founding Head Coach Scott Forster. He has led Big Blue Women’s soccer to new program highs, including new records for team wins, goals scored, clean sheets, and wins v NCAA DII opponents. The team ranked 16th nationally in the NCAA for offensive efficiency.

Under his guidance, the team maintained a high academic level with an average GPA of 3.50 and won the “most spirited team on campus” award at the School Awards Banquet. This year, 12 players made the President’s list and 9 the Dean’s list. The program has received 19 letterman awards.

The 2022-2023 season marked the second year for Scott Forster as the Head Women’s Soccer Coach at Bluefield State University. Coach Forster has displayed vision and leadership to make the concept of a diverse and inclusive soccer environment become a reality. He has established a team culture based on pillars of support which has become known by the team as a “Bluefield State of Mind.” BSC Women’s Soccer roster is global, with representation from 12 different states, 12 different countries spanning five continents.

The inaugural 2021-2022 was the first-ever year of soccer competition at Bluefield State. Coach Forster was responsible for establishing the program from scratch. He recruited 25 players to found the program and created an independent schedule which allowed the team to be tested at the highest level. After recording a win in his first-ever game as a head coach, he went on to win four more games with the team scoring 23 goals. Despite being a first-year team, Big Blue Soccer ranked 5th nationally in the USCAA and attended the post-season at the National Championship weekend. Off the field, the team kept high academic standards, achieving a 3.67 GPA in Fall. Nine players were recognized on the President's List, four on the Dean’s List and three as USCAA Academic All-Americans. In addition, six players under his guidance received BSC’s 2021-22 Letterman Honors.

Prior to joining The Big Blue, Forster served two years as assistant coach with the MSUB Women's soccer program. During his time at MSUB, the program moved up to 2nd in the NCAA DII national rankings for academic success and were awarded 15 academic all-conference selections. On joining the MSUB women's soccer he brought outfield coaching support that resulted in five additional games being added to the win column including a 2-1 home win over defending conference champion Concordia University. While at MSUB he was promoted to Recruiting Co-ordinator after improving the programs player search and selection processes. He managed the addition of 25 elite players to support replacement of graduating players, as well allowing a roster expansion to 32 players. In the Fall of 2018, he also served as the Men's soccer assistant at MSUB.

Forster has completed his Ph.D. and Honors degree in biological sciences and has significant experience coaching across ages and genders. Prior to his time in Montana, Forster was executive director and director of coaching at the Liverpool International Academy in San Jose, California. Forster has developed nationally-ranked competitive travel teams and has created a youth program that has won several premier elite tournaments including NorCal State Cup at the Premier level. While coaching in California he also worked under Shaun Tsakiris, former US Men's National Team U16/U17 Head Coach, at Los Gatos United.

Prior to this, he guided the San Jose State men’s club soccer team to the most successful season in their history with the capture of the West Coast Soccer Association’s Open Cup. Several players from this group have gone on to further collegiate and professional success, including recognition for first team All-American, first team All-West Region, CCCAA NorCal Team of the Year, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Forward of the Year, and UPSL National Player of the Week and Player of the Year honors. He holds an advanced national license and a premier diploma from the United Soccer Coaches and has been recognized for building team culture and the technical development of the competitive player.

A native of Newcastle, England, Forster relocated to the United States in 2012 and has previously supported NCAA D2 Cal State East Bay as second assistant and worked with NPSL franchises in California. He is an English FA certified scout and holds voting rights for US Open cup “player of the round.”

Forster prides himself in a holistic approach to coaching by supporting the continuous development of the person, student and athlete.

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Richard Pearce

The 2023-24 marks the third season for Coach Richard Pearce as Director of Player Analysis. As an assistant, Coach Pearce supported the daily activities of the team both on and off the field. His primary coaching duty is to provide elite level goalkeeper training while supporting player recruitment and scouting of opponents.

Coach Pearce joined Bluefield State in 2021 as Director of Player Analysis. He holds a graduate degree from the University of Liverpool and a Masters from the University of London.

Richard has been playing competitive soccer since he was 9 years old. He has played at the regional and national levels against semi-professional and professional soccer players across the UK.

Aside from playing, Pearce loves to watch almost any sport. He specializes in review and analysis of game film and excels at combining these into the game of soccer to support teams and review opponents.

In addition to analysis, he is currently studying to become a certified personal trainer with a focus on strength and conditioning, and enjoys the challenge of new ideas and training techniques to improve athletic performance.

In his personal time he enjoys lifting weights, cycling, running, bouldering and HIIT classes.

Pearce is originally from London, England.