Feb. 3, 2003

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State Director of Athletics Lee Reed has announced the hiring of Derrek Falor as the first head women's soccer coach in school history. Falor, whose first day on the job will be Feb. 10, had served as the top assistant at DePaul since 2001.

"We are excited to announce the hiring of Derrek Falor as our head women's soccer coach because it is the beginning of an exciting new era in CSU Athletics," said Reed. "Derrek's reputation as a great teacher of the game along with his personal commitment to developing well-rounded student-athletes made him the obvious choice to lead our program.

"We welcome Derrek and his family to Cleveland State University and look forward to building a competitive program that Cleveland can be proud of."

For six seasons, between 1995 and 2000, Falor was the head women's coach at Western Washington University. During his stint in Bellingham, he compiled the second-most wins in school history en route to a 56-47-10 overall record. In addition, the Vikings never finished lower than third in conference play and were ranked regionally five of the six years.

"The opportunity to build a program is just fantastic," noted Falor. "I look forward to creating an awareness of CSU soccer in the greater Cleveland metropolitan area, putting an effective and entertaining team on the field, and working hard to be very successful in the Horizon League. With solid backing, I know CSU women's soccer will make a very positive statement right away."

In addition to his previous NAIA and Division II head coaching experience, Falor holds a USSF "A" license. Prior to his tenure at DePaul, he also served as an assistant coach for various age levels of the Washington State Olympic Development Program from 1995 through 2000.

Falor earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Exercise Science/Sports Psychology from Western Washington in 1992. While completing his master's degree in Sports Psychology from Western, he also served as a graduate assistant from 1993-94 for the men's and women's soccer programs. In 1996, Falor served one season as an assistant coach for the USISL Bellingham Orcas.

The Vikings are slated to begin play in 2004, joining Butler, Detroit, Loyola Chicago, UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, Wright State and Youngstown State as Horizon League schools to sponsor women's soccer. Soccer is CSU's ninth varsity sport for women, joining basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball.