June 5, 2026
Former NWSL Champion Kristen Edmonds Named Head Coach of Eustis High Girls Soccer
By Kyle Coppola
Former NWSL Champion Kristen Edmonds Named Head Coach of Eustis High Girls Soccer
Eustis High School has hired Kristen Edmonds, a decorated former professional soccer player with more than 200 appearances across international leagues and the NWSL, as its new girls soccer coach.
A Metuchen, New Jersey, native and 2024 inductee into the Metuchen High School Hall of Fame, Edmonds brings a wealth of elite playing experience to the Panthers program. She was a three-sport athlete playing soccer, basketball and track at Metuchen High earning all-division, all-region and all-state honors before starring at Rutgers University, where she led the team in scoring and points as a freshman and again as a senior, guiding the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA Girls Soccer Sweet 16.
Edmonds’ professional career spanned 14 years and took her around the globe. Undrafted out of college, she earned her first pro contract in 2011 with Iceland’s Stjarnan FC, helping the club win a league championship and qualify for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She followed that with a 2012-13 stint in Russia with Rossiyanka, where she won the cup and reached the Champions League quarterfinals.
She entered the NWSL in 2014 with the Western New York Flash, making more than 30 appearances over two seasons. Edmonds then joined the Orlando Pride from 2016-20, earning the 2016 Golden Boot as the team’s leading scorer and Women’s Soccer Weekly MVP honors while signing with Nike and earning call-ups to U.S. Women’s National Team camps in 2016 and 2017. She later served as co-captain for the Kansas City Current in 2021 and helped the club reach the 2022 NWSL Championship final.
In 2023, Edmonds returned to her home state with NJ/NY Gotham FC and won the NWSL Championship. She capped her career by joining Tampa Bay Sun FC and winning the inaugural USL Super League title in 2024-25 before retiring after the 2025 season. She was also inducted into the New Jersey Girls Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2023.
“Now that I’ve settled down with my family here in Lake County, I’m eager for the opportunity to help rebuild the Eustis girls soccer program and create a competitive culture that develops confident, hardworking players both on and off the field,” Edmonds says. “After 14 years of playing professional soccer around the world, I’m grateful for the experience, knowledge, and perspective the game has given me. I’m excited to give that back to the next generation of athletes.”
Eustis High School officials have expressed confidence that Edmonds’ championship pedigree and playing resume will elevate the program to new heights.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
