DePaul University Athletics
Martin Alba Named Men’s Soccer Assistant Coach
5/9/2023 1:25:00 PM | MEN'S SOCCER
A BIG EAST veteran, Alba joins DePaul ahead of the 2023 season
CHICAGO - DePaul men's soccer head coach Mark Plotkin announced the hiring of Martin Alba as assistant coach on Monday.
"We're thrilled to add Martin to our staff," said head coach Mark Plotkin. "Martin's experience as a student-athlete in the BIG EAST along with his connections in the city of Chicago and across the country will be a great asset to our program. He's a tremendous up and coming coach with a bright future in this profession."
Alba most recently served as a member of the coaching staff at St. Thomas (Minn.) during the 2022 season. Previously, Alba spent two seasons at Loyola-Chicago as a volunteer assistant. In 2019, his first season with the Ramblers, the squad went 11-5-4 and won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship for the first time in program history.
"I want to thank Mark for offering me the opportunity to become a member of the DePaul community," said Alba. "Coming back to Chicago and having played in the BIG EAST, this is a great program for me to continue to grow and develop as a coach under Mark's leadership. This program has a ton of upside and after speaking with Mark about his vision for the program I knew this would be a great fit for me."
No stranger to the BIG EAST, Alba was a member of the men's soccer team at Marquette from 2014-19. He started in 37 of his 46 appearances for the Golden Eagles with 16 coming in his senior season. As a member of the Marquette team, he tallied 3,106 minutes played and was named to the 2017-18 All-BIG EAST Academic Team. During his senior season, the Golden Eagles went 7-9-3 and had an appearance in the 2018 BIG EAST Championship Title Match.
"Martin's references had nothing but great things to say about his work ethic, knowledge of the game, and ability to connect with student-athletes," said Plotkin. "We are excited about who Martin is as a coach but are even more excited about who he is as a person and mentor for our student-athletes. His values fully align with the mission of DePaul University and our soccer program. We look forward to Martin having an immediate impact on the success of our program and the lives of our student-athletes as we pursue a Big East Championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament."
A Calumet City, Ill. native, Alba attended George Washington High School and was ranked among the top-100 players in the 2014 recruiting class by TopDrawerSoccer.com and College Soccer News. He also trained with the Chicago Fire Academy.
"In the BIG EAST you compete against high quality programs in every game," Alba noted. "I look forward to the competitive level that the BIG EAST has to offer, as I believe it to be one of the best conferences in the country. As a player, I enjoyed every minute of my time in the BIG EAST and now I look forward to experiencing the conference as a coach."
