Slusher hired as new Badin girls soccer coach
Chris Slusher is the new girls soccer head coach at Badin High School, Athletic Director Geoff Melzer has announced.
“We’re happy to bring Chris aboard,” Melzer said. “He’s a dynamic coach with a lot of great ideas and I know that our girls soccer program will continue to thrive under his leadership.”
Slusher has an extensive coaching background. He was the assistant girls soccer coach at Walnut Hills in Cincinnati last season.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I know that Badin High girls soccer is an excellent program, not just in the Greater Cincinnati area, but in the state of Ohio. We certainly want to continue the success that the program has shown over the years.”
Slusher, 49, steps in for Joe Martin, who has retired after three years at the helm. Martin’s teams went 37-12-10, with three trips to the Division II district championship game. The Rams won two district titles and this season went 14-0-6 before losing their first game of the year in the regional finals, 1-0 to subsequent state runner-up Wyoming.
“I’m looking forward to working with some great kids and being a part of a great family at Badin,” Slusher said. “We want to continue the success that Badin has had and add even more to it.”
The Badin girls program has captured 17 district titles, reached the regional finals 12 times, been to the state finals nine times and won three state championships – 2005, 2013 and 2014.
Slusher said he is not married to any particular style of play – “multiple styles and multiple formations depending on the situation,” he said. He plans to meet with the team in January and move forward from there.
His Cincinnati club soccer roots go deep. He was a founding member of Total Futbol Academy (TFA) and was also involved with the Fairfield Optimists Soccer
Club (FOSC). He’s currently a part of Coerver Perfomance Academy and the Mercury Soccer Club, which he helped organize in 2017.
His high school coaching background includes stints at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati Country Day and Colerain, his alma mater. He’s a “players-first coach” who has helped place more than 150 players in the college ranks, including three players who were invited to the United States National team camp.
Slusher is in operations management for the United States Postal Service. He and his wife, Kelley, have two children and are residents of Colerain Twp.
Badin opens the 2022 season onAug. 20, at East Central (Ind.).