Manuel Perez, an experienced and motivated collegiate and professional soccer standout, will begin his first season as Head Men's Soccer Coach at Warren Wilson College. His coaching career includes a wide variety of roles, most recently as part of the Barry University men's soccer staff in the spring of 2024. Prior to this, he served as an assistant men's soccer coach at the University of Pikeville. At the high school level, he played a role in coaching the men's soccer team at Carolina Day School in Asheville which reached the NCISAA 2A Championship final.
Coach Perez also served as an assistant soccer and strength & conditioning coach for top UPSL clubs including Florida Soccer Soldiers, Palm Beach Stars, and Miami United. In 2022, he was based in Boston working as an assistant coach with Boston City FC in the USL2, and then served as the head coach for the club's inaugural season in the Eastern Premier Soccer League.
As a player, Manuel Perez competed for Barry University at Division II in the Sunshine State Conference. He then played for the University of Charleston as a graduate student in 2018. During this time, the team won the Mountain East and the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. He also served as a graduate assistant coach, while pursuing a master's degree in strategic leadership.
He also played for the NPSL team Greenville FC during the 2018-2019 seasons and had the privilege of winning the UPSL South Florida division several times with Florida Soccer Soldiers in 2020 and 2021, and then Homestead FC in 2023. He also won the South-Central division title in the USL2 in 2023, where he currently competes as a member of Asheville FC.
Manuel Perez was born in Valencia, Venezuela, and moved to the United States to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Applied Sports & Exercise Science at Barry University while competing as an NCAA Student-athlete. His role as a Graduate Assistant Coach & the Strategic Leadership degree program at the University of Charleston prepared him to manage a sports performance training business focused on developing soccer players while living and competing in Miami. His education, coaching and professional soccer pursuits have all led to a return to the Asheville area full-time as the new head coach of the Warren Wilson Owls men's soccer program.
"I am excited to return to Asheville, where I have established deep connections within the soccer community. I look forward to working with the Owls as they unlock their full potential in this new NCAA era." said Perez.
Coach Perez has already begun the transitional process to prepare the team for their first official NCAA Division III season as members of the Coast-to-Coast Conference. He can be contacted by email at mperez@warren-wilson.edu. Any further questions can be directed to Amy Nicholson, Sports Information Director at anicholson@warren-wilson.edu.
