Juergen Huettner’s athletic career brings him half way across the world to coach soccer
Nick Herrin
-Staff Writer-
In 1968, in the town of Erlangen, Germany, about 300 miles north of Italy, a young boy kicked the soccer ball around with his father and grandfather. As a child, Jeurgen Huettner had aspirations to become a great soccer player in Germany. The thought of becoming a soccer coach overseas seemed farfetched. Fast forward 43 years later and Huettner has found his way on the soccer field coaching the Lady Archers for STLCC.
Huettner began practicing soccer when he was 5 years old. Taught to play by his father and grandfather, Huettner continued playing throughout his youth for multiple club teams.
“Oh my gosh, I started playing soccer so long ago,” Huettner said. “When I was 6 years old, I joined a club in Erlangen, and I played there until I was 12, and then between 12 and 18 [I] switched to another club team.”
While growing up in Germany, Huettner met his future wife, Mary Jo. In 1985, the two were married. When it was time for her to move back to the United States, Huettner decided he would follow her back. They have been married for 25 years. Calling the Midwest home, the Huettner’s have two daughters, Joann and Tess.
“When Mary Jo was 24 years old, she wanted to come back to the United States, so I figured she stayed six years with me in Germany, so it was my turn to stay with her for a few years in the United States,” Huettner said. “A few years became 25 plus years, so I’m still here.”
Huettner had previously coached select teams, but he began his high school coaching career at Althoff High School in Belleville, Ill. with the men’s soccer team in 2001.
He began coaching the women’s soccer team in 2005 because high school men and women’s soccer were played in different seasons and he decided to coach both.
In his first year at the helm of the women’s soccer team, Huettner’s Crusaders finished third in the state and followed with a second place finish in 2008 and a state championship in 2010. The 2010 Crusader team went 27-0 and was ranked third in the nation by ESPN.
“With the boys we won a bunch of regionals and some stuff, but with the girls we won a buttload of regionals,” Huettner said. “In 2010, we won the state championship going 27-0, as the first team to go undefeated on this side of the Missouri and Mississippi river. It was pretty special.”
Huettner began coaching the STLCC-Forest Park Highlanders in 2009, leading the Highlanders to the most wins in the program’s history and coached them to their first women’s soccer Region XVI championship.
In 2010, Huettner’s Highlanders matched the previous year’s victory total, but finished the season with a losing record at 10-11-1.
As for the 2011 season, Huettner hopes to do better than he did last year coaching the Forest Park Highlanders and better than the Meramec Magic, as both teams finished below .500.
“We definitely want to do better than last year, hopefully playing above .500,” Huettner said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but slowly [over] the next few years we would like to inch ourselves to become an abominable power in the area.”
STLCC currently has a 4-2 record and won their first game as the STLCC Archers at home with a 4-0 win over Allen County Community College on Aug. 26. The win came a day after Huettner celebrated his 50th birthday.
