CARSON, Calif. (Monday, January 6, 2013) – The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has named Kenny Arena to the club’s coaching staff as an assistant coach. A former head coach in the Galaxy Academy, Arena spent the last two years as the head coach at Florida International University.
“We are pleased to add Kenny to our coaching staff,” said LA Galaxy Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena. “Kenny’s familiarity with the Galaxy, experience in player development and his knowledge of the college game make him a good fit for our club.”
Named the head coach at Florida International in March 2012, Arena led the Panthers to an 8-8-2 record in his first season in charge, giving them their most wins in a single season since 2005. FIU finished the 2013 season with a 6-10-1 record, giving Arena a 14-18-3 record in his two seasons in charge. Over two seasons with FIU, Arena coached five players who were named All-Conference.
Arena began his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Virginia in 2006 before joining the coaching staff at George Mason University in 2007. He first came to California in 2008, joining Jorge Salcedo’s staff at UCLA. In four seasons with the Bruins, Arena helped lead his team to the NCAA Tournament four times, including a berth in the College Cup in 2011. Nearly 20 players that Arena coached while at UCLA went on to be drafted by MLS teams, including Chandler Hoffman, Kyle Nakazawa, Brian Perk, Brian Rowe and Michael Stephens, all of who went on to play for the Galaxy.
During his time at UCLA, Arena also worked as a coach with the Galaxy Academy, serving as the head coach of the Galaxy U-16’s. While with the Academy, Arena coached current Galaxy Homegrown players Jack McBean and Oscar Sorto while helping lead his team to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-16 National Championship and the U-17 Generation adidas Cup in July 2011.
A former U.S. youth national team player, Arena played college soccer at Virginia and was selected by the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls) in the fourth round of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft. He would spend three years in MLS as a player, scoring once in 20 games over two seasons with the club before being traded to D.C. United, where he spent the 2005 season.
Season tickets for the 2014 MLS season are on sale now, starting at just $250. Becoming a Galaxy Season Ticket Member gives fans the opportunity to see every Galaxy home game as well as number of additional benefits such as access to Town Hall meetings with Galaxy leaders, discounts on additional single game tickets, entrance into the club’s new Season Ticket Member loyalty program and much more as well as discounts at all TEAM LA locations and on select camps at the Galaxy Soccer Center in Torrance. For more information about becoming a Galaxy Season Ticket Member, please call 877-3GALAXY (342-5299) or visit www.lagalaxy.com/tickets.
