Oliver Wyss

Oliver Wyss (born August 29, 1974 in Solothurn, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American soccer coach and is currently the head coach of Orange County Blues in the USL Pro, at the semi pro level in United States.^[1]

Biography

Oliver began playing professional soccer at age 15 for F.C. Solothurn of the Swiss 1st Division. He was selected for the Swiss Youth National Team where he played in over 20 International games including the European Cup qualifiers. While playing on the Youth National Team, Oliver had a chance to play versus England, Germany, France, Turkey and players such as David Beckham, Robbie Fowler, Karsten Jancker. In the U.S., he played for the L.A. Salsa in the USISL Pro Division and for the Anaheim Splash in the CISL.Oliver Wyss has been coaching in the U.S. club system since his arrival in 1994 to play professional soccer and has been with the West Coast Futbol Club Program since its inception in 1997. As the Director of the West Coast FC Boys’ Program, Oliver has won 3 US Youth Soccer National Championships. He has also won various League Championships, League Cups and National/State Cups. He was named the 2010 Cal South Coach and US Youth Soccer Region 4 Competitive Coach of the Year. Under Oliver's leadership in the last 17 years, the West Coast FC Boys Program has emerged as one of the top programs in the Nation. Soccer America has continually named West Coast FC as a top 25 Boys program and many of its alumni are playing on the highest collegiate or professional level. He started coaching in Switzerland for the F.C. Solothurn Youth Program in 1992. He was a staff coach for the U.S. Olympic Development Program and is a former Coast Soccer League "Boys Coach of the Year" and Adidas ESP scout. Oliver is the Head Boys Soccer Coach at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano.

He was diagnosed in 1997 with severe Aplastic Anemia, a rare blood disorder that ended his pro soccer career. After a successful bone marrow transplant, Oliver and his wife founded Soccer For Hope, a non-profit organization that raises funds for children with life-threatening diseases. Since its inception, Soccer For Hope has raised almost $2 Million for pediatric cancer research and family support. Today, the program is hosting camps, inspiration walks, nationwide hospital visits and gala dinners that have touched thousands of children and their families. Oliver is a spokesperson for City of Hope and the Aplastic Anemia Foundation and is on the Leadership Council for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. For more information please visit: www.soccerforhope.org

Mr. Wyss graduated in 1994 from the Business College of Switzerland with a diploma in Economics and Languages. He and his wife Jamie reside in Laguna Niguel. ^[2]

References

Template:Orange County Blues coaches