He was such a good referee that he was the only American invited to an international tournament. Now, he coaches soccer at Hillsdale.

Ken Koopmans, executive director of Career Services and coach of the Women’s Soccer Club, first worked at Yale University and as an international referee before coming to Hillsdale.

“The lore behind him is crazy,” sophomore Katie Holford said. “Everyone kind of has a vague idea of Coach Ken’s past life, but nobody really knows what went on or how he got to Hillsdale.”

While recovering from a post-college soccer injury in 2006, Koopmans began refereeing games to remain involved in the sport. 

 “I was always the player that would yell at the referee, and so I thought ‘I can referee better than these guys,’” Koopmans said. “I thought I would do it for a season, just to be around the game.”

Koopmans said refereeing allowed him to use his soccer knowledge and remain involved in the sport.

“Not only was it fun to be around it, but then, unlike playing, I wasn’t getting injured all the time and I was getting paid,” he said. “For a while I was just using all my vacation days to referee soccer matches.”

When he started refereeing more seriously, Koopmans said his goal was to travel as a referee. After numerous phone calls and recommendations, he was invited to referee at an international tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia, alongside professional referees from the Premier League.

“They told me after I got there that they actually don’t allow American referees to referee there, because American referees are so bad,” Koopmans said. “And I was the only American referee at this whole tournament. So then it was like, ‘Oh, no, pressure’s on.’ I felt like I was representing my country.”

Koopmans paid the price for representing America. While the tournament committee accommodated all other referees with hotel rooms, they lodged him separately in a hostel. Expecting him to fail, the other referees showed up to his match, ready to laugh.

“They were waiting for the game to blow up, and they were sure the American ref was going to mess this up,” Koopmans said. “I actually had a really good game, and so the referee from the English Premier League took his jacket off and gave it to me, and he said, ‘You earned it.’ That’s one of my proudest moments.” 

Once Koopmans proved he was not the typical American referee, the other refs invited him to leave his segregated hostel room and to stay in the hotel with them, Koopmans said. 

Not only did he continue to travel for soccer games, but his job as Director of International Internships at Yale University also brought him to Italy, Turkey, and India, where he had many great experiences, Koopmans said. 

But frustrated with the politics he saw not only at Yale but also at nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Koopmans said he wanted to step back from working in higher education.

“That’s when I learned about Hillsdale,” he said. “I went from thinking, ‘There’s no way I can work at a college anymore,’ to then thinking ‘Okay, at least there’s one college where maybe I could work.’”

Hired by Hillsdale in March 2016, Koopmans moved to the area and married his wife Sara later that year. 

When Koopmans began coaching in the fall of 2022, the women’s soccer team had not won a game in years. After becoming coach, the team turned their record around, made the playoffs for the past two years, and moved up leagues into the Women’s Midwest Alliance Soccer Conference.

“We just really enjoy having him as our coach,” junior and women’s club soccer president Madison Gilbert said. “He brings a lot of hype. You can tell, even on the field, that he’s a family guy.”

Raised in Medford, Long Island, Koopmans laughed at the fact that he and his wife are both from big cities, but currently live in rural Jonesville with their two daughters, where they raise chickens and have an outdoor cat.

“We love the small town,” he said. “It’s funny for me and Sara because it’s not us at all, but here we are!”

Although he misses traveling and enjoys the occasional road trip to the city, he loves stepping back into referee mode for a men’s club soccer match every once in a while.

“It’s a reminder of my glory days,” Koopmans said.