History of T-Bird Soccer

The Casper College men’s and women’s soccer teams kicked off their inaugural 2020-21 season, a little bit later than anticipated, on April 2, 2021. All NJCAA athletic seasons were put on hold for the fall semester due to the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of COVID-19, all sports teams played their seasons in one semester, while the soccer season continued into June, well beyond the end of the spring semester.

The first head coaches, Ben McArthur, men, and Ammon Bennett, women, were attracted to the idea of starting up new soccer programs. McArthur came from Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, and began his seventh season as a college soccer coach. Bennett came from Utah State University Eastern in Price, Utah, having started soccer programs for two other schools; both brought a wealth of experience to Casper College. They began their jobs in January 2020 to begin recruiting, coordinating a playing field, set up matches with other colleges, and everything else that goes into starting a collegiate sports program from scratch.

The teams began playing at the North Casper Soccer Complex and, later in the season, switched to Murane Field, where they closed out the season. Murane Field is located on the Casper College campus and provided a spot for the new soccer program to call home.

During their inaugural season, the men’s team went 7-1 during conference play and hosted the NJCAA Region IX Tournament at home. Going into the regional tournament, the men were ranked seventh in the nation. They finished their first season 11-2 overall coming in as the runner-up in Region IX play.

The women’s team went 4-1-3 during conference play and 7-3-4 overall for the season. At one point during their first season, the women’s soccer team was nationally ranked 18th overall.

On the men’s team, Victor Hugo was one of 11 players from throughout the country to be named to the 2020-21 NJCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Second Team All-Americans. Freshman of the Year, Jesper Van Halderen, was also named First Team All-Region.

Both teams had an exceptional first season and placed among the leading teams in the region and nation. Soccer is Casper College’s fourth athletic program.