Kishwaukee welcomes new coaches to Kish Athletics

Colby Newquist, men’s soccer head coach, and David Parker, women’s soccer head coach, are both seasoned coaches and former athletes themselves. “Coach Newquist and Coach Parker have both provided hardworking and positive direction to the soccer program since they began. They bring an exciting new perspective to our already growing programs and we are confident they will take Kishwaukee Soccer to higher levels,” says Scott Kawall, director student involvement, athletic director.

Coach Parker grew up playing soccer in Northumberland in England. He played soccer at the College of St Mark & St John, Plymouth, where he also began his coaching career, coaching the College’s second and third teams. Upon graduation, Coach Parker moved to the United States and settled in the Fox Valley in 1996. He has coached soccer from youth to college level in the Chicago-area for 25 years and brings a wealth of experience of developing players. He is the franchise owner of Coerver Coaching in Illinois. 

Coach Newquist is a graduate of Sycamore High School, alum of Kishwaukee College and earned a spot as one of the top 20 players in the nation while a soccer student-athlete at Kish. He played soccer at both Northern Illinois University and Aurora University and was voted All-Northern Athletics Conference Honorable Mention. Coach Newquist spent two seasons playing semi-pro club soccer for Aurora Borealis and was coached by former Chicago Fire legend, C.J. Brown. Coach Newquist co-founded the local semi-pro soccer team DeKalb County United.

Coming for Fall 2020 are bowling, Esports and golf for women and men in each sport. “When we added the new sports to our athletics program, we wanted to make sure we found the best coaches to build the program and inspire our student-athletes to excellence,” comments Kawall. “Our new coaches are passionate about their sport. They’ve each made many key recruit signings in their short time since coming aboard. We are excited to see the impact their new sports have on campus and throughout the community.”

DeKalb native, Ranzy Collins, is the new head coach for Kish’s first men’s and women’s bowling teams. Coach Collins have extensive knowledge in developing a bowling program and launched Augustana College’s bowling club team. He competed locally while a student at DeKalb High School and is active and well-connected with the bowling community in the area.

Matthew Hixon will enter his first season as the Esports head coach and launch the inaugural intercollegiate team. Coach Hixon is currently a competitive Esport player for the Fighting Game Community (FGC) under the gamer tag 99centMcFury. Additionally, Coach Hixon is an Esport freelancer for GinxTv and self-published the eBook FGC Urban Glossary. He is the founder and owner of Gamers Glorified in Waukegan.

Jessica Schultz is the head coach for men’s and women’s golf. She was a four-time IHSA individual state qualifier at Somonauk High School who medaled numerous times downstate. Coach Schultz earned a Division I athletic scholarship to golf at Western Illinois University where she competed for the Leathernecks. “I know what it takes to be successful in the classroom and on the course and I look to teach that to all my student athletes,” says Schultz. “I am also from the area so I am very familiar with the surrounding high schools and the competitive nature of those programs and look forward to working with all the area golf coaches.” 

On May 7, Kish athletics is hosting two separate virtual recruitment information sessions via Zoom for students interested in learning more about Kishwaukee Athletics. An Esports virtual information session will be held at 3:33 pm. To register, visit https://kishkougars.com/sports/Esports/recruit_questionnaire.

Those interested in one of the other 14 NJCAA sports offered at the College can join a Zoom meeting at 5:00 pm on May 7. Visit https://kish.zoom.us/j/5075583538 or call 312-626-6799 to join the meeting at the stated time.

For more information on the new coaches or Kish Athletics, visit www.kishkougars.com or contact Scott Kawall, athletic director, at skawall@kish.edu.

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Photo: Kishwaukee College Athletics welcomes five new coaches for the 2020-2021 season for soccer, golf, bowling and Esports. Picture 1: David Parker, head coach women’s soccer. Picture 2: Colby Newquist, head coach men’s soccer. Picture 3: Ranzy Collins, head coach men’s and women’s bowling. Picture 4: Matthew Hixon, head coach coed Esports. Picture 5: Jessica Schultz, head coach men’s and women’s golf.