Let’s go back to 1984. Ronald Reagan was president. The first Apple Macintosh went on sale and the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox played the longest game in major league baseball history in 25 innings. On the UW-Parkside campus, a newly hired head coach by the name of Rick Kilps inherited the men’s soccer program…which consisted of nine players. The UWP alum hit the ground running and assembled a team which befuddled foes and went 14-5-3, earning a trip to California to compete in the national tournament.
Kilps’ first season as head coach at UW-Parkside was considered a “Cinderella Season.” In retrospect, maybe it wasn’t so shocking after all.
Fast forward to 2010. It doesn’t matter if his pupils are currently middle-aged or in their teens, they all have one thing in common – none has had to endure a losing season, not one. Since his initial eye-opening campaign on campus, the Ranger soccer guru has strung together 26 consecutive winning seasons.
The numerics during the span are staggering. Kilps has walked off the field victorious 356 times in his Ranger tenure. His lofty winning percentage at UWP stands at .763. This doesn’t even factor in the seven consecutive winning seasons and three conference championships he had at Aurora prior to the Parkside post. All totaled, Kilps has been a collegiate head coach for 33 seasons, and has 33 winning records.
The team’s noteworthy numbers has bread a bounty of individual success. At Parkside, Kilps has nurtured 85 National Soccer Coaches of America (NSCAA) all-region players. Forty-one student-athletes under Kilps can call themselves an “All-American.”
Eighteen of Kilps’ prime players have either been drafted or have signed contracts to play professional soccer. Of those, 13 have added to their bank account thanks to professional soccer after being nurtured by Kilps.
Kilps’ program didn’t miss a beat as it transitioned from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in the mid-1990s, with its 47 NAIA all-district players from his early years.
Since Kilps’ program moved into the Great Lakes Valley Conference, 46 have earned all-conference awards. Four Rangers have been crowned GLVC Player of the Year. In addition, a pair has been picked for GLVC Freshman of the Year honors. The league’s highest award, encompassing all sports, was bestowed upon soccer alum Pat White, who was 2008 recipient of the treasured Bertram Award.
Since joining the elite Division II league, the Rangers have never failed to qualify for its post-season tournament. Ten times UWP has advanced to the circuit’s Final Four. In 2000, the Rangers walked away with the GLVC trophy.
In putting the player first, Kilps’ work has not gone unnoticed. He is an elected member of the Wisconsin Soccer Association Hall of Fame, inducted in 2005. In 2002, he was tabbed the Wisconsin State Coach of the Year. Then, there are the repetitive awards including six NAIA District Coach of the Year honors; three NAIA Area Coach of the Year awards and two NCAA Regional Coach of the Year kudos.
More important than the above numbers and awards is what has been done in the classroom by those who have donned the Ranger uniform under Kilps’ watch. Over 90 percent of those on the 1984-2009 master roster have completed their education and earned their degree. His teams have recorded a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better in 22 of the last 24 semesters. His student-athletes routinely generate higher GPA numbers than the student body at-large.
A grand total of 113 GLVC all-academic awards have been issued to Kilps’ club, which translates to an average of just under 10 players per season. Three in the deep all-academic pool have been named GLVC Academic Player of the Year. Under Kilps’ council, the Rangers have grabbed five Academic All-American awards to boot.
Kilps was a trailblazer for those he would ultimately coach. Kilps himself earned a degree at UW-Parkside, while lettering in soccer for four seasons. He went on to procure a master’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University. While at BGSU, Kilps multi-tasked as an assistant trainer and as an assistant coach. He would later parlay those positions into head jobs at both Aurora and at UW-Parkside.
Kilps, who was the head trainer at UWP from 1984-1998, is a certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association. He remains an active associate professor of education at UW-Parkside. Kilps is a USSF “A” licensed coach.
Kilps at UW-Parkside
1984…14-5-3 1992…14-3-1 2000…17-5-0 2008... 8-6-3
1985…14-6-1 1993…15-2-1 2001…13-4-1 2009... 13-5-2
1986…13-8-1 1994... 15-2-2 2002…11-7-1
1987…17-5-2 1995…15-7-0 2003…12-6-0
1988…13-4-5 1996…16-3-1 2004…13-4-3
1989…18-4-1 1997…14-6-1 2005…13-4-1
1990…14-6-0 1998…12-6-1 2006…13-4-4
1991…15-2-1 1999…13-6-1 2007…11-7-1
Total…356-127-38
