SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's soccer officially announced the hiring of Lisa Oyen Ljubicic as the Director of Women's Soccer Operations. Oyen served in the same role last season in a volunteer capacity. This is the first time in the history of Santa Clara women's soccer that the Broncos will have a full-time Director of Operations.
"I am very grateful to have the opportunity to work at an institution such as Santa Clara where the entire campus is committed to excellence," said Oyen. "The standard and goals set by both the academic community and athletic department are the same in focusing on developing the whole person. I would like to thank Coach Jerry Smith along with Mr. Dan Coonan and Mrs. Staci Gustafson for the opportunity to develop this position in one of the most prestigious women's soccer programs in the country. This is a special place and I am excited to be a Bronco."
"For the first time in program-history we have a Director of Soccer Operations position and our program will benefit from that in so many ways," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "We hit a home run with this hire. Lisa is a great role model and is very experienced in working with collegiate athletics programs. She is a very bright person and is passionate about education, specifically with young women. She has worked at three different universities and gained a lot of great experience. We now have someone who can bring a new energy to our staff that will allow our program to function at a higher level. Lisa will also take a burden off our staff by taking care of administrative and logistical tasks. This will let our coaches focus more time on the players and technically improving their games."
An Oregon native, Oyen attended the University of Montana where she graduated with a degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology in 1998. She played on the women's soccer team from 1994-97 and was a two-time team captain. In 1997 Oyen was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and her team won the Big Sky Conference championship. That season she was also named to the Soccer Buzz Second Team All-West Region.
Oyen's husband, Aleksandar Ljubicic, played professional soccer in Europe.
In her free time she enjoys watching soccer, running, listening to music and exploring the great outdoors.
