John Kerr, Jr., has been an attack-minded soccer player since the day he could kick a ball.

“My father (the late John Kerr, Sr., who will always be remembered as a pioneer for US Soccer) always had a ball at my feet attacking the goal,” said the Duke men’s soccer coach, now in his fourth season coaching his alma mater.  “And, as a coach I preach offensive soccer.  I want our teams to attack.”

And, Kerr, who was the National Player of the Year in 1986 as the Blue Devils went 18-5-1 and captured the school’s first ever national championship in any sport, plans to share a few keys to dynamic, attacking soccer as a featured NSCAA clinician.  He will conduct two sessions, including one with Duke women’s soccer coach Robbie Church, at the NSCAA Convention January 11-15 in Kansas City.  

“Robbie and I love what the NSCAA and the Convention is all about,” said Kerr.  “It’s a time to share ideas to improve the game and it’s a time when everyone seems willing to share.  It’s a key part of what makes the NSCAA and the sport of soccer so special in this country.”

Make no mistake, when it comes to teaching dynamic soccer, Kerr’s resume speaks for itself.

Kerr was a two-time first team All-ACC and All-America choice and finished his illustrative Duke career with 42 goals and 43 assists for 127 points. Those totals rank in the top five all-time at Duke.  Kerr was inducted into the Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 before replacing his coach at Duke, John Rennie, who spent 29 seasons at the helm of the Blue Devil program.

“It was an easy choice to come to Duke,” said Kerr, the affable coach who still hangs onto his Scottish roots.  “When you look at the number of prolific goal scorers that played for Coach Rennie during his 29 years, I knew that I would be able to play the kind of soccer I like to play.  We moved the ball and we scored goals.  That’s the name of the game and that is the focus of our team today and I hope to make that a key part of what we will focus on in Kansas City at the NSCAA Convention.”

It’s not like Kerr needs NSCAA All-America athletes to teach his players how to score goals.

Before coming to Duke, Kerr served nine seasons as the head coach at the Ivy League’s Harvard University. While with the Crimson, Kerr compiled a ledger of 81-57-13 and earned trips to the NCAA Tournament in his last two campaigns. 

During his tenure at Harvard, Kerr produced 15 first team All-Ivy League selections, three Ivy League Rookie of the Year choices, and two Ivy League Player of the Year picks.

“We also led the nation in scoring in 2006 enroute to the Ivy League championship,” said Kerr with the same kind of fire and passion he played the game with.  When you teach your players to move with and without the ball with a focus on dynamic movement it can result it goals.”

 You can trust him as the goals have continued to pour in at Duke with Kerr on the bench leading the Blue Devils.

Coach Kerr's Sessions at the 2012 NSCAA Convention

View the full 2012 NSCAA Convention Schedule here.

This past season, Kerr’s Blue Devils bounced back from a rough start to make a strong run in the ACC and deep into the NCAA tournament.

In fact, it was Kerr who moved the ACC’s Defender of the Year in 2010, Andrew Wenger, to forward in 2011.  The result: Wenger won the ACC Offensive Player of the Year.

“When you teach attacking soccer, it means your defenders can and need to be able to attack,” said Kerr.  “Obviously Andrew is a different kind of soccer player but I think what he has done is a great message to coaches and young players.  Our players today need to be able to attack, or, at least, start the attack from all points on the soccer field.”

It doesn’t hurt, says Kerr, to have smart, sophisticated soccer players on the field.  You can find those players at Harvard and Duke.  Academically, under Kerr’s tutelage, Duke is a staple on the All-ACC and NSCAA Academic Teams.

“The players need to be able to read the game and understand how their movements can change the flow of the game,” said Kerr.  “But that is something that can be taught at the youth level and developed over time.”

Despite being a head coach at one of the premier college institutions in the country, Kerr’s focus on youth soccer has never wavered. 
While at Harvard, Kerr served as the coaching director of the F.C. Greater Boston soccer club from 2002-07. He was the coach of 2008 Duke graduate Michael Videira prior to Videira’s highly successful career as a Blue Devil.  And, in North Carolina, Kerr is a major part of the Triangle United Soccer Club.

 “No matter what level you are, the more we can teach our players attacking soccer, the better the game will be.”

So with all of that on his schedule as well as a successful marriage to Tracy Kerr, who was a soccer standout at Virginia in the early 1990s, and father to nine-year-old twins, Cameron John and Alexandra Catherine, and a five-year-old son, Drew, how in the world did Coach Kerr find time to conduct not one, but two sessions at this year’s NSCCA Convention?

“You can give Joe (NSCAA CEO and Executive Director Joe Cummings) the assist on that one,” said Kerr.  “He was a great mentor when I joined (Major League Soccer’s) New England Revolution in 1996 as a player and Joe was the general manager.  And, we have always shared the same passion for the development of soccer in this country.  When Joe asks me to do something I do it.”

Of course, Kerr is not the only premier coach that Cummings and his NSCAA team recruited for this year’s NSCAA Convention.  Other coaches conducting sessions in Kansas City include: Tom Byer, Jim Cassell, Mike Curry, Theresa Echtermeyer, Jill Ellis, April Heinrichs, Schellas Hyndman, Vanessa Martinez Lagunas, Kevin McGreskin, Tom Sermanni, Sam Snow, Taylor Twellman, Peter Vermes, Mark Verstegen, Frank Wormuth and Eric Wynalda.

Click here to learn more about this year’s NSCAA Convention in Kansas City.

And, if you have dynamic, attacking soccer in mind, be sure to check out the sessions by Coach Kerr, listed above.

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