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Men's Soccer Coaches

Kenny Dale

Kenny Dale

Head Coach

kenny.dale@azwestern.edu

928-317-7600

Kenny Dale’s teams continue to set new records for the program. The Matadors have made the playoffs for 10 straight years (and counting). The 2015 team set team records for conference wins (17), a 12-game winning streak, and a 15-game unbeaten streak while also claiming a share of the ACCAC title. The Mats have had a winning season 12 times under Dale's direction. The program’s first conference title arrived in 2010, and then the Mats defeated Pima to hoist the 2010 Region I Championship plaque. In 2013, the new history of AWC Women’s Soccer began with that same familiar name of Kenny Dale on top of the coaching roster as he assumed that head coaching role for both men and women. He helped lead the Lady Mats to the playoffs for two straight seasons while still directing the Matador men to great success. Dale has worked with college-level soccer athletes every season since 1988, and is now in his third decade of college head coaching experience. Dale earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Arizona. He also holds a USSF ‘A’ license, NSCAA Premier Diplomas from Brazil and Germany and completed the NSCAA Master Coach Program in 2010.

Admir Balicevac

Assistant Coach

Admir Balicevac joins the Matador coaching staff after playing for the Mats for two seasons in 2010 and 2011. He then transferred to Bethany College for two seasons. As a junior, he was an all-conference honorable mention while being named a team captain as a senior. He graduated with his Bachelor's in Business Management with a minor in computer applications. Admir hails from New Zealand and has been playing soccer since he was six. He played in national academies from ages 13 to 18, and he won three straight national championships with Wellington Region Academy's U14, U15 and U16 teams. During that stretch, he also represented New Zealand at the World Club Nike U16 Championship. Admir won a pair of national high school titles with Hutt Valley High School, and he played in the Central Premier League for Lower Hutt City, Stop Out and Western Suburbs FC. He was also a member of the Ole Academy that toured the USA when he was 18, beating both the LA Galaxy U19 and Chivas USA U19 teams.

Tom vonAhlefeld

Tom vonAhlefeld

Assistant Coach

Saying that it’s Tom vonAhlefeld’s seventh year on the AWC Soccer bench doesn’t come close to describing what Kenny Dale says Tom offers this program. Dale waits for vonAhlefeld to impart many of his ‘life experiences’ on his coaches and his student-athletes, and vonAhlefeld’s humility keeps them glued to his every word while his tales unfold. vonAhlefeld’s resume and experience in athletics, fitness, education, government and law enforcement is incredibly versatile, since after earning his Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Houston, vonAhlefeld gave two decades of military service and two decades of government work to his country, and spent 15 more years in various branches of law enforcement. During his time in those professions, vonAhlefeld demonstrated to those around him what fitness and preparation were all about, spending a dozen years running cross-country in Germany, and running marathons in both Germany and here in the United States. He also earned his certificate as a lifeguard, and was an expert in nautilus weight training. Along the way, vonAhlefeld spent time as a coach and/or official for basketball, football, baseball and volleyball. After retiring, Matador fans started seeing vonAhlefeld as he put his love for law enforcement and athletics together, working security at Matador Athletics events as part of the Arizona Western College Campus Police Department. In the summer of 2011, Dale asked vonAhlefeld to put away the law enforcement uniform during soccer practices and games, and trade them in for a coach’s whistle to lend his various levels of expertise to his coaching staff.

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