UCLA hired Mark Carr as a women’s soccer assistant coach
on July 16, replacing Michelle French.
In addition to coaching both the boys’ and girls’
soccer teams at Elk Grove High School, Carr also was the head coach
of the Under-17 Boy’s Olympic Development Program in Northern
California.
At the same time, Carr was an assistant coach for the Elk Grove
Pride of the Women’s Professional Soccer League and was the
program director of the English Professional Soccer Academy in Elk
Grove.
Carr is a native of London, England, and graduated in 2001 from
England’s Bournemouth University with a degree in
international marketing and management.
“Because Mark grew up in England, he has had a lot of
exposure to the game at a very high level,” UCLA head coach
Jillian Ellis said.
“I’ve had the opportunity to see him work first
hand, and I believe his demeanor, personality and understanding of
the game will be a great addition to our coaching staff.”
French was the assistant coach during the 2002 season, but is
now playing for the Women’s United Soccer Association’s
San Jose CyberRays.
While French played for the Washington Freedom this past year
and coached at UCLA, sources said that both playing professionally
and coaching may have been too much of a time constraint to
repeat.
Carr just completed his United States Soccer Federation
“C” Coaching License and also has his Union des
Associations Européennes de Football “B”
License.