David Malloy will serve as the new head coach for boys varsity soccer at Loomis Chaffee, starting this coming fall.
Malloy, born in England, played professionally in the United Kingdom as well as in the United States before he started a family and began his coaching career. He has been an assistant coach for the varsity boys squad for the past three years, and he will now replace previous head coach Tim Helfrich ’96 in the upcoming season.
“During my first year as an assistant coach, we won New England’s, which was obviously very rewarding for my first year. Since then, we’ve made it to the semi-finals, and last year, we were the last sixteen,” Malloy stated.
Although the global pandemic has raised doubt for many schools regarding the fall term, the Loomis boys anticipate a successful season nevertheless. “I think with the players we have and the players we have coming in, our minimum goal is to reach the final,” Malloy said. “That’s our goal and it should be our goal every year.”
When asked why he started coaching soccer in the first place, the soon-to-be head coach emphasized the importance of repaying the game for all it had provided him.
“I wanted to give back to aspiring soccer players because if it wasn’t for the coaches that I had while growing up, I probably wouldn’t have stuck with soccer or became a professional. I think giving back to the world of soccer is something that every player or anyone who has a passion for the game and can relate to kids trying to make a career out of it, should do to help,” Malloy said.
The team has taken advantage of remote learning, as they have been meeting regularly over Zoom. Malloy has kept in contact with many current and incoming players during this time. “This is a great time for the team to work on things they need to improve on, work on team bonding, and team competition so it brings them closer together. Obviously they are not with each other, but we are in a world with so much advanced technology that teammates can definitely stay in touch and can push each other to get better for next season,” Malloy commented.
One member of the team, Jon Murphy ’21, as well as his teammates, hold great excitement for this year’s season. “Everyone on the team is really sad to see Helfrich go, especially since he was the one who recruited us and brought us in last year. However, Coach Malloy’s passion and experience are very similar to Coach Helfrich’s, and we are very happy about that. Knowing Malloy and his knowledge of the game, we are all expecting big things this season, and we are hopeful in bringing another New England’s trophy onto the island this fall,” Jon said.