Merritt College Men's Soccer

Head Coach, Men Soccer @ Merritt College, Oakland, Ca Glenn Van Straatum, Head Coach of the Merritt College men's soccer team since 2019,  where he mentors young men and fosters a culture of success on and off the field.  On the field, Merritt plays a fast-paced attacking style of possession football pressing high or low on the field. Off the field, Merritt players are active members in their community and strive to become leaders. Glenn coached at the Pro level, D1 College, Community College, and youth levels and was a midfielder and forward. Coach Van Straatum is a native of Paramaribo, Suriname. He represented the Surinam U23/U19 National teams (Natio) as their captain and played for Transvaal VV, a team that won two Concacaf Championship (currently Concacaf Champions League) trophies.   In the US, he played for the University of San Francisco men's soccer team during its glory days in the late 1970s and early 80s. Glenn was inducted into the USF Hall of Fame in 2015 having scored 25 goals and provided 18 assists in his soccer career with the Dons and ranking 42 points ( third all-time in school history). Glenn also won two [@ncaasoccer](https://www.instagram.com/ncaasoccer/) national titles with [@usfdonsmsoccer](https://www.instagram.com/usfdonsmsoccer/) (1978,1980).  Van Straatum also played for several semi-professional teams in the San Francisco area including the Greek- Americans FC, Hellas FC, San Francisco Italian Athletic Club and SF Glenns in California (1978-1989). He played for the Surinam national soccer team from 1976-1978. Coach Van Straatum also served as the head coach of California Victory, a professional soccer club of the United Soccer (USL) League in 2007, and held board positions on the Norcal Premier board,  Jack London Youth Soccer Sports League In Oakland, California each for 6 years.  He has made significant contributions to the growth of youth soccer in the East Bay through his position as Academy Director & Director of Coaching with the East Bay United Soccer Club, which serves over 2,500 members in competitive and recreational soccer U6-U23.   Van Straatum holds a USSF A license and an Academy Directors license with USSoccer.