Women's Soccer | February 22, 2017

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan women's soccer head coach Lauren Sinacola has announced the promotion of Kyle Farris to full-time assistant coach, and announced the hiring of Doug Raak and Christie Tarpley.

"I am very excited about the future of this program," said Sinacola. "Kyle has been a great addition to this program from the start. His first year coaching in the college game went really well and he has shown a huge amount of growth in the short six months we have worked together. He understands the game at a very high level and is able to translate his knowledge to the players very well. The best thing about Kyle is that he truly is a selfless person and I know he will continue to put the players and the program before himself. I know Kyle's strengths will continue to push this program in a positive direction and I am looking forward to building our relationship as co-workers to help this program grow and give our players the best opportunity to have success while being here at WMU and beyond."

Farris was a part-time assistant coach during Sinacola's first season at the helm and finished the season going 13-7-1 and a trip to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Semifinals. Farris holds a United States Soccer Federation coaching license and earned his degree at Western Michigan University while playing for the men's varsity team.

Tarpley joins the team as a volunteer assistant but coached at Western Michigan with the program back from 2000-04, helping WMU to its first-ever MAC Tournament Championship in 2003. Tarpley has also been an assistant at Portage Central High School, helping the Mustangs to a State Championship in 2009. Tarpley joins Erin Carlson, who has been a volunteer assistant for the past five seasons, working with WMU's goalkeepers. 

"The addition of Christie to our staff has already been so positive," said Sinacola. "Christie has coached and played at a very high level and she has already found ways to positively impact our training sessions this spring. She holds a high standard for the players and keeps them to it throughout the training session. Her experience as a coach and a player at the collegiate level has proven to be influential and we are very excited to have her back on the side-lines coaching at WMU."

"As a program we are very lucky to have Erin on staff for the past four years," added Sinacola.  She has always done a great job with the goalkeepers and she has continued to be a consistent sounding board for me as a coach, especially through my transition into the head coaching position.  Her commitment to this program and hard-working mentality over the past four seasons has been very influential to our programs success and I am excited to have her continue with us moving forward."

Raak his filled various roles for the WMU men's soccer team and how holds the position of director of operations, the same role he will take with the women's program under Sinacola. Raak was a four-year letter winner with the men's program and appeared in 66 career games as a defender.

"Adding Doug to our staff has been great," Sinacola said. "Not only does Doug truly love Western Michigan University, but he has a true passion for the soccer programs.  The addition of Doug has allowed us as coaches to really focus on the coaching aspect of our job as he has taken a lot of the additional responsibilities of a college coach off of our hands which in turn has improved our program immediately. The best thing about having Doug on staff as the Director of Operations is that he genuinely cares about the student-athletes experience here at WMU so he puts all of his effort into helping them have the best experience as possible."

Western Michigan opens up its spring schedule on Saturday, March 18 at Waldo Stadium for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.