Vukic the man as BHS boys soccer coach

Published 12:00 pm Saturday, August 19, 2006

He takes over for Anh Tran, who now coaches girls soccer.

When George Vukic heard from some friends that the Bainbridge boys soccer head coaching position had opened up, he thought it “sounded like fun.”

He’ll have plenty of good times when he takes the Bainbridge boys’ soccer team into battle next year against the talented squads that make up the Metro League.

Vukic, 40, currently works from his home for the family business, a high security ceramics manufacturer in Newark, Calif. where he was born and raised.

He started playing soccer when he was nine and continued all the way though high school.

At the University of San Francisco, he played all four years under legendary coach Steve Negoesco, who won 540 games and four national titles in his 38-year career at the school.

He split time in his junior year between the team at school and a third division team in Germany.

After college, he played for four different semi-pro teams in San Francisco.

He moved to the island five years ago and got into coaching here, eventually taking over two select teams that his daughters play on and coached two select boys soccer teams as well.

For his work, he’s been named a two-time BIYSC coach of the year and was also named the coach of the year through another organization for the Kitsap area in 2004.

The holder of a USSF National “C” license, Vukic feels he can become acclimated to his new team rather quickly, thanks to his time spent in the local soccer scene.

“If you’re in the soccer community, you get to recognize a lot of faces,” he said. “I feel very comfortable about it. Relating to the kids has never been a problem with me. I may not have all the answers going in, but it won’t take long to get things calibrated and get things going, I hope.”

What he’ll bring to the team is a new face and some different ideas.

“Anh mentioned that it could be time for a fresh voice,” he said.

His plan for the team is to let them be inventive with their play.

“I want to see creative soccer and I want to create an environment that improves their ability and soccer smarts and hope that it does the job,” he said. “It’ll be fun but it’ll be a challenge as well.”

He also hopes he can live up to his own expectations as well.

“I’ve told all individuals (involved) that I wanted to do something special, but I didn’t want to take the job if I didn’t feel confident about it.

“From what I see, it’s a good group and I’m eager to begin.”