ABOUT | badinmenssoccer

Coach Eric Hickey

"Eric Hickey was not looking to coach high school soccer again. But when he was approached about the Badin High School boys’ soccer post, the lure of returning to his alma mater was too much to turn down.

“Badin pulled me in,’’ said Hickey, a 1987 BHS graduate who has been active in club soccer. “I’m looking forward to the challenge of turning around a program that’s been invisible.”

Hickey has had major success in recent years turning prep programs around, including a five-year stint with the Talawanda High girls and four years with the Edgewood High girls. He is the all-time winningest coach in THS girls soccer history, with 46 wins, including a league championship; and guided Edgewood to 37 victories and a berth in the district finals.

“We’re very pleased that Eric has taken the helm of our boys soccer program,’’ said Badin Athletic Director Geoff Melzer. “He really knows soccer and has a track record of success. We’re excited to have him back at Badin.”

“The thing you hear about Badin boys soccer is that you can’t win,’’ said Hickey, who served as a reserve coach at Badin for one season while working on his degree in communications at Miami University in the early 1990s. “I’m more than happy to put that challenge to the test.”

Hickey replaces Kyle Kammer, who stepped down after six years as the boys head coach.

“The boys soccer program needs an identity,’’ Hickey said. “People talk about being competitive, but just being competitive is not good enough. If you’re an athlete at Badin High School, you’re competitive by nature. You’ve got to expect more of yourself.”

Hickey, who runs HTT Insurance in Cheviot, said he was pleased with the 40 boys who are out for preseason conditioning. “It’s a good group,” he said. “I told them we’re not going to worry about the past – we’re just going to push forward.”

Hickey is the club trainer for the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy in West Chester, and a member of the athletic board at St. Peter in Chains in Hamilton. He and his wife, Julie, live in Hamilton and have two children who attend St. Peter in Chains School.His appointment means that the Badin soccer program has two new varsity head coaches for the 2013 season – Hickey with the boys and Todd Berkely with the girls." -Cincinnati Enquirer

Matt Blauvelt- JV/Goal Keeper Coach

Matt grew up in Hamilton, OH. and began playing soccer in the Hamilton SAY soccer program. As a youth he also played for various select soccer teams. Matt played goalkeeper for Hamilton High and was a member of the only GMC championship team in 1985. That year he was also selected as a second team GMC and All-District goalkeeper and a starting goalkeeper for the East/West all star game. After high school, Matt attended the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN. on an athletic scholarship where he continued his soccer career. In his senior year (1990) he was ranked fifth in the nation among all Division II goalkeepers for goals against average of .70. Matt still holds the school records for Most Shutouts in a Season and Career and Lowest Goals Against Average. Matt has coached the Central High School girls soccer team and SWISA youth program in Evansville, IN. and the Wilson Jr. High School boys soccer team in Hamilton, OH. He has also coached various SAY soccer teams. Matt was inducted into the Hamilton High School Hall of Fame 2010 class.

Matt is a police officer for the City of Oxford, OH. He is married to Pam Blauvelt and they have two sons, Mason and Nicholas.