Busen is Grizzlies' new men's soccer coach at Adams State

Busen is Grizzlies' new men's soccer coach

by Chris Day, Adams State Sports Information Director

ALAMOSA, Colo.- Long-time successful soccer coach and Michigan native Tim Busen has been named as Adams State College's men's soccer coach.

Busen, who was most recently the head boy's and girl's coach at Perry High School in Lansing, Mich., was selected from a national search and is the first full-time coach of the Grizzly program that was started in 2009.  He replaces Josh Nolker, an ASC student, who directed the inaugural Grizzly team last fall.

At Perry High School, where he was for the last six years, Busen earned /Lansing State Journal/ Coach of the Year honors in both 2008 and 2009 after leading the Ramblers' girls to second place finishes in the league standings during both springs, quite an accomplishment considering they went 2-16 in his first year.

Busen also had similar success with the Rambler's boy's team which went 3-14 in 2004 before finishing 15-3 while winning a league title last fall.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity," Busen said about the Adams State men's job.  "I have the same philosophies and experiences .  When I started at Perry, we had only seven girls on the roster and 2 or 3 wins.  Now the program is at the top of the league. 

"The Adams State men's program and I fit.  I'm hoping to get it to that same level in the same way that the other teams I've worked with.  It's a challenging, yet very rewarding to take teams that are struggling and to help provide them with the tools to compete with league champions," Busen said.

As one of six new enrollment-based athletic programs that Adams State has or is adding over the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years, the Grizzly men's team struggled to an 0-10-3 campaign in the first year and is competing in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, arguably the toughest in the nation and led by 2009 NCAA Division II National Champion Fort Lewis, one of the teams to defeat the Grizzlies.

Although he was most recently coaching at the high school level, Busen is no stranger to the collegiate game as he served as the Michigan State University men's club team's coach in 2005 and 2006 compiling a combined 28-6-7 record, including an 18-2-3 finish in 2006.

Earlier in his career, Busen had served as the assistant women's coach at Olivet (Mich.) College from 1996-2002 helping turn around a 3-16 program to a 16-3 finish in 1998.

Serving as the technical trainer for all field players on head coach Mark Fales' staff, Busen helped the Comets win a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title in 1998 while appearing in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in school history.

Busen also served as the assistant coach for both the boy's and girl's teams at Lansing Catholic Central High School from 1996-2003 helping the teams compile a 118-34-12 combined record while winning seven district and four regional titles.  During that time, he had the opportunity to coach University of Michigan captain Joe Iding.

During his playing days at Spring Arbor (Mich.) University, Busen served as the team captain and leading goal scorer while earning all-America honors as a senior in 1993.  He then played professional for the Detroit Wheels, Grand Rapids (Mich.) and Wichita (Kan.) all of the United States International Soccer League.

Academically, Busen earned a bachelor's degree in health, recreation and sports administration at Spring Arbor in 1994 and a Michigan Teaching Certificate in 2001 in health, physical education and recreation while at Olivet.

He is also in the process of completing a "C" license from the United States Soccer Federation and holds USSF Youth National and NSCAA Goalkeeper Level I licenses as well.

When not around the sport of soccer, Busen enjoys outdoor activities, making Colorado and the San Luis Valley a perfect fit.

"I love mountain-biking, hiking and skiing and just being outdoors so being in the San Luis Valley and Colorado as a whole is fantastic," not only for myself, but also for potential student-athletes.

"The facilities and educational opportunities that Adams State provides are very impressive.  I also like the Division II partial scholarship model and am excited to coach at the Division II level," Busen commented.

"I also like the fact that I basically get to start my own program.   I don't have to live up to old standards and we get to start fresh and prove again that I can help establish some great traditions," he said.