College Placement Advisor

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Matt Gow who is also the Men's Soccer Coach at Ottawa University has been helping players realize and achieve their goals of playing beyond youth soccer for many years and will be a huge asset to RSL-AZ West Valley's players and parents in their pursuit of furthering their careers.

Coach Gow's resume includes many years as a player as well as a coach from club soccer to the upper levels of College Soccer. He has been extremely involved with College Coaching 

and has built a solid reputation and a network that will make him an indispensable recourse for RSL-AZ West Valley! See more about Coach Gow's experience below.

The College Placement Advisor will foster and develop relationships with university and college programs to create a consistent avenue for RSL-AZ West Valley's players to achieve their goals of attending college and playing soccer.

These resources include:
* 1 on 1 meetings
* Realistic breakdown of available programs
* College readiness guides
* What questions players want to ask to college coaches
* Timelines and how NCAA rules of recruitment work
* Understanding the importance of GPA & ACT/SAT and their effect
* Assisting with recruitment.
* Realistic assessments of players during games
* Understanding offers
* Many other facets that will help with understanding the College landscape.

Coach Gow's experience:

Coach Gow's experience includes three years as the head coach of the OUAZ Men's Soccer Program. Where in the first two years he has guided them to a 20-16-1 record with a trip to the NCCAA National Championships last season.
Gow came to OUAZ from the University of the Pacific where he was an assistant coach with the Tigers. At Pacific, Gow, along with the rest of the Tiger coaching staff, was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division I Far West Region Staff of the Year. In his second season with Pacific, Gow helped the Tigers put together one of the best seasons in program history, as Pacific went 13-4-2 on the year including a NCAA Tournament second round appearance, before losing to the eventual champions; Stanford.

Gow joined the Tigers from Virginia Tech, where he was an assistant coach working with the Hokies’ back line and goalkeepers. The Hokies posted their best season in seven years and capped off the season by making it to the 2014 ACC tournament. Virginia Tech goalkeepers posted seven clean sheets on the season and led the ACC in saves.

Gow was the Director of Operations and Youth Development for the New River United Soccer Association in Virginia, where he oversaw over 20 competitive teams and 30 coaches. Gow also coached a U16 boys’ team to a Virginia State semifinal appearance.

Prior to Virginia Tech, Gow spent two seasons as an assistant coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Kansas. Gow helped train the NAIA perennial power's goalkeepers, while also focusing on international and domestic recruiting, and opponent scouting. Over two years, MidAmerica Nazarene advanced to the NAIA semifinals and quarterfinals with goalkeeper Chris Eriksson earning All-America honors in both seasons.

While coaching at MNU, Gow was one of the founding coaches and Director of Goalkeeping for the Toca Futbol Club; a faith-based soccer club located in the Kansas City metro area.

Gow played for the Southern California Seahorses, a member of the Premier Developmental League. In college, he was a standout player for MidAmerica Nazarene as a four-year starter and two-year team captain. Gow helped lead the Pioneers to an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament and a Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship.

A native of Lebanon, Missouri, Gow earned a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from MidAmerica Nazarene University.

Gow has been married to his wife, Heather Gow, since 2016 and they have a son, William & daughter, Olivia.