The Australian connection to Nicholls State University’s women’s soccer program has been reborn, with the Colonels announcing former star forward Kristy Helmers as head coach. Helmers’ move to her alma mater takes the number of Australian head coaches in the Southland Conference to two, alongside Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Daniel Clitnovici, who recently took over following Craig Shaw’s move to Associate Athletic Director of Business Operations for the Islanders.
Originally from Canberra, Helmers was one of a number of Australians on the Nicholls roster during her time as a player in Thibodaux. With 12 goals and 8 assists in her 70 appearances, Helmers was a regular threat in attack for the Colonels, compiling the best career of any Aussie at Nicholls since Jess Coates, whom she played alongside in her freshman year.
Following her playing career, Helmers joined the coaching staff at Friends University, an NAIA program in Wichita, Kansas. Joining as a graduate assistant, Helmers was then elevated to assistant coach and was part of a coaching staff that led the Falcons to national tournament appearances in both 2021 and 2023. Outside of this, time spent as Director of Soccer Operations for Wichita United FC further developed Helmers’ skillset which can only be a positive as the former Colonels star attempts to turn around the fortunes of her former team.
It has been a lean run over the last few years for the Colonels, winning just nine games since 2018, including two winless seasons in 2020 and 2021. However, as someone who played in teams that finished with six wins in 2016 and 2017 and also at the start of that leaner period, Helmers is uniquely positioned to use her experience across both eras to lead the team back to those better days.
“It is truly an honour to be named the head coach and to be returning home to Nicholls,” Helmers stated. “I am beyond thankful to the Director of Athletics, Jonathan Terrell and his staff for believing in me to lead this program,” Helmers stated in an official release. Whilst bringing in a former player as head coach has had mixed results throughout world football, Nicholls appears from the outside to be a program in need of someone with real passion for the team, and Helmers could be just the person to improve the Colonels’ fortunes.
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