Change in Scenery for Carter Leads to First Season With Women’s Soccer

Doug Carter was born in London, England. He said he moved to America because he got married.

“My wife has a big family and my family was smaller. It made sense for me to move here,” he said. He has two children, Liam, 16, and Ethan, 14 with his wife, Kelly.

The transition from London to America was hard for Carter. When asked what was different Carter said, “Everything.” Carter shared that the language barrier is larger than many think. Spelling and language is di erent in America than in England. Carter said, “People assume because we share a common language thatwe are similar. But we are completely different.”

Carter graduated from the University of Surrey, located in the South East of England, with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and sports studies. He played soccer for his university, starting all three seasons. He was the captain of his team for two of those seasons.

Not only did Carter play in college, but he also played semi-professionally. He played 11 seasons for the Civil Service Football Club, located in London, England. Carter has a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) D license and FA level two Certiffication received by the England Football Association.

Carter didn’t originally plan to be a coach. “When I came to the country I didn’t know what I was going to do. Someone knew I had played at a decent level and was asked if I would coach.” This question launched Carter into a career he would come to love.

Before he accepted the position at Olivet, Carter spent 28 years at Northwood University, coaching for both the men and women’s programs. Carterwanted different scenery, and Olivet was a great opportunity, he said, adding, “It was time for a change. I had a nationally renowned program, four championships in four years, it was time for a new challenge.”

According to the Northwood University website, Carter lead his teams to win 239 games, two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championships, and was ranked nationally in 2014 and 2015. Northwood saw the most success with their program in the last four years,

ranking number 10 nationally in 2015.