Josh Tudela

Josh Tudela (born March 13, 1984 in Evansville, Indiana) is a former American soccer player, who currently serves as an assistant coach to the VCU Rams men's soccer proram.

Career

College and Amateur

Tudela played with the North High School men's team in his home town, and was named MVP, Best Offensive Player and Most Dedicated Player on his high school team as a junior and senior. He led the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference in scoring as a senior, scoring 31 goals and 14 assists, and finished his career with 80 goals and 62 assists.

Tudela spent most of his youth club years playing for the Flames under the direction of Fernando Tudela and Pedro Millan.

In 2003 Tudela made his college debut for Indiana University, appearing in 22 matches while making 15 starts. He was named to the College Cup All-Tournament team as Indiana won the 2003 NCAA Championship, and finished the season with one goal and five assists. In 2004 he played in and started all 24 games for Indiana as the Hoosiers won their second consecutive National Championship. He was fourth on the team with five assists, three of which came on game-winning goals. He scored his only goal of the year in the NCAA Tournament Third Round victory over Boston College.

In 2005 he earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors after finishing the year with seven goals and five assists. He had his first career multi-goal game in a 2-0 win over University of Louisville, and was joined on the IU soccer team by his brother Jacob who was a redshirt freshman in 2005. In 2006 he was named Big Ten Player of the Year and to the NSCAA All-American Third Team after scoring three goals and adding two assists in 22 games. He started all 22 of IU's contests and was one of the team's captains. He finished his career with 11 goals and 17 assists while helping the Hoosiers reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament all four years.

During his college years, Tudela also played with West Michigan Edge, Fort Wayne Fever and Kalamazoo Kingdom in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Tudela was the Galaxy's second selection in the second round (20th overall) of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft. After initially not featuring for the club Tudela would end the season appearing in 9 matches, all starts during his rookie campaign. He spent three weeks on loan with the California Victory of the USL First Division. In the 2008 preseason, Tudela scored his first goal in a Galaxy uniform during the Pan-Pacific Championship against Sydney FC in Hawaii. The regular season saw him compete in six games with three starts and an assist. After making eight starts in 2009, Tudela was waived by Los Angeles on July 1 to make roster space for Alecko Eskandarian.

After a brief stint with LA-based amateur side Doxa Italia, Tudela travelled to Romania for a trial with former European champions Steaua Bucharest in January 2010. However, Steaua decided not to offer him a contract. On February 17, 2010, he started trial with Polish team Cracovia, but again was not offered a contract.

In December 2010 Tudela signed with the expansion Los Angeles Blues of USL Pro for the 2011 season.^[1]

Coaching career

Tudela works from 2011 to 2011 as Head coach of the Long Beach-based Beach FC in the Southern California Developmental Soccer League.^[2] He is also co-owner, with his brother Jeremy, of the Tudela's Soccer Academy based in Evansville, Indiana University Bloomington.^[3] He is since January 2012 Assistant coach of the VCU Rams men's soccer team of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.^[4]

Honors

Indiana University

• NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship (2): 2003, 2004

References

External links

• LA Galaxy player profile
• Indiana University player bio