Another UW-Parkside men's soccer alum is making waves on the international soccer scene. Mark Litton, who was an all-American goalkeeper for the Rangers and later an assistant coach for Rick Kilps, recently led the United States Under-19 Indoor National Team at the Mercedes Benz Junior Cup Tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.

Litton, who serves as the goalkeeper coach for the U.S. Futsal national team as well as the Milwaukee Wave of the Major Indoor Soccer League, earned his first international head coaching experience with the selection.
 
“I was surprised and quite honored when they called me,” said Litton in correspondence with current Ranger head coach, Jason Zitzke. “Jim Moorhouse (head of youth soccer at the United States Soccer Federation) felt that I had the experience and professional presence to lead the team. This was a great opportunity for me to further my coaching career at the national team level.”
 
Litton was at a decided disadvantage coming into the tournament with the only national team against a group of professional club teams. The U.S. team met for the first time at the airport before flying over to Germany and enjoyed just one, 80-minute training session prior to their first match.
 
“None of our players were in season, so we weren't at match fitness,” Litton said. “They had also never played the indoor version before. We went up against professional club teams that were in season, fit, and have been playing together for years.”
 
Litton led the U.S. team to a 1-5 record including a 1-0 upset of Lechia Danzig from Poland in the team's first match. They also endured a pair of tight losses; 1-0 to Stuttgart and 2-0 to Lazio of Italy.
 
“Considering the circumstances, we did better than most expected,” said Litton. “We were in most of the games we played.  All in all I was happy with the trip and the results.”
 
Litton also noted the atmosphere of the event.
 
“The environment was awesome,” he said. “It gave these young men a good taste of high level European football. Hopefully this brief experience will benefit each of them as they take their game to the next levels.”
 
As Litton returns to his duties with the Wave he will not soon forget his experience running a U.S. National team. Although it was his first assignment leading a National team, he hopes it won't be his last.
 
“For me personally this was my first head coaching position with a national team and was a highlight for my coaching career,” he said. “I hope this experience will continue to open more doors for me at the National team level.”