ABILENE, Texas - Tuesday McMurry University athletics director Ron Holmes announced that Alan Riches would become the sixth women's soccer head coach in school history. Riches comes from Lubbock where he was the Coronoado High School boys coach.

“We are pleased to announce Alan Riches as our women's soccer coach as the program looks for a new and more positive direction,” said Holmes.

In three seasons, Riches led Coronado's Mustangs to two playoff appearances and was named the District 2-5A Coach of the Year his first season after helping the team to an 11-6 record. In addition, he was also named the Texas Panhandle 4A/5A Coach of the Year.

Riches graduated from Angelo State University in 2000 and received his master's degree from the University of North Texas in 2005. He has been an active teacher at the collegiate and high school levels.

As a coach, other than his stint at Lubbock Coronado, Riches spent the 2004 season as a volunteer coach for the Mean Green of UNT in Denton where he served as the goalkeeper's coach and saw the team make an NCAA National Tournament appearance.

He holds a professional coaching certification with the “Associacao Barsileria De Treinadores De Futebol,” which less than 100 coaches in the U.S. hold such a license. Riches has spent time in Brazil gaining coaching and administrative experience.

In 2005 he worked for both the Oscar Professional Training Center (Aguas de Lindoia, Brazil) and the Associacao Athletica Ponte Preta in Campinas, Brazil. Since 2007, he's served as an apprentice for the former Brazilian National Coach Emerson Leao at the Clube Atletico Mineiro in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Riches will take over a women's soccer program that originated in 2001. Since then, the previous five coaches including Dan Heger, Christy Cousins, Steve Allan, Stan Levrets and Tim Grove have combined for 10 total victories in the first nine seasons as a program with Allan taking five of those in his only season as women's coach in 2006. McMurry's overall record in nine seasons is 10-127-11.

McMurry has also suffered three seasons without a win with its last victory coming under Allan Nov. 6, 2006 in a 3-2 win over Howard Payne in the season finale.