Michael Arango is entering his first season as head coach of the Concordia University Chicago Men’s Soccer team. Arango came to Concordia-Chicago in 2015 as an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team, with head coach Chris Brown citing him for his “knowledge of the game, passion and ability to teach the game.” His work with the women’s team included working with Brown to create daily training plans, leading postseason evaluations for freshmen players and assisting with the team’s recruiting efforts. Off the field, Arango also helped the winter’s futsal events, which has been a popular campus event in its first few years.
Arango comes to Concordia-Chicago from suburban Wilmette where he served as the Director of Coaching for the Wilmette Wings and was responsible for the U8 to U14 teams. Prior to Wilmette, Arango was the Boys Director of Coaching for Campton United SC in St. Charles, IL. While there, he helped create a comprehensive club curriculum, worked with coaches to create a philosophy and program style of play, led the boys’ program into the Midwest Developmental League (one of the tops in the country) and helped with the College Showcase event hosted by the club. The boys’ programs won multiple state titles, earned multiple regional berths and were two-time Disney College Showcase Finalists.
Arango, who holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) A License, has been involved with the Illinois Youth Soccer Association (IYSA) Olympic Development Program as both a head and assistant coach since 2004 and is part of the USYSA Region II staff (ODP). He is certified to teach the USSF National D and E courses and is currently on the IYSA Coaching Education staff.
Arango has been part of two different USSF coaching education trips, going behind the scenes to see what the most successful clubs in the world value and how everything comes together. He worked with both Spanish and Belgian national programs to understand how they best teach their athletes. (Spain,2012 and Belgium/Amsterdam 2016)
Locally, Arango coached at Team Evanston and FC United prior to his time at Campton. He is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois with a BA in elementary education. Arango resides in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.