Eddie Garza joins the NIU women's soccer coaching staff as assistant coach effective Aug. 23. Garza joins the staff after being the head coach for womens soccer at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa from Feb. 2015 to Feb. 2016. Prior to that, he was the assistant coach for the mens team at Ashford from 2010 to Feb. 2016 after getting his Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree from Ashford in 2010 and 2012.   During Garzas year as the womens head coach, Ashford had a 14-5-1 record where they were a NAIA National Tournament Qualifier, they were the Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champions and Garza was named Association of Independent Institutions Coach of the Year.   Most recently, Garza was working as the Youth Academy Director, Staff Coach and Camp Director for the Rockford Raptors Soccer Club from Feb. 2016 until joining the staff at NIU.   While working with the Rockford Raptors, he planned and organized season lesson plans to evaluate players and he oversaw and assisted in the management of Raptor Juniors, Raptor Tots, and Rockford youth soccer league to place players in their appropriate playing level. Garza also developed a season plan for youth teams to provide a learning environment training and assisted in camp and tournament management to offer a great experience.