Emily Willaert ’11 has been playing soccer since she was a kid.
She had a stellar prep career at Mankato Loyola, then went on to play her first collegiate season at Concordia-Moorhead in 2006.
She transferred to the College of Saint Benedict the following year, bringing her closer to older brother Dan and younger brother Tony – both of whom wrestled at Saint John’s University.
Willaert helped lead CSB to a berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament in her first season with the program and went on to become a team captain during her senior year in 2010.
But it was after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament as a junior that she first decided to take up coaching.
“I needed something else to do and someone recommended giving coaching a try as a way of keeping myself connected to the game,” she recalled. “It really did help me stay engaged as I went through my rehab and got ready to come back.”
That initial foray marked Willaert’s first exposure to the Central Minnesota Youth Soccer Association, and her involvement would only deepen after she graduated from CSB with a degree in psychology and completed her master’s degree in sports science with a dual emphasis in exercise physiology and biomechanics at St. Cloud State in 2013.
“I originally went to work for Sanford Health in Fargo doing research in their biomechanics lab, but I was getting tired of staring at a computer screen,” she said. “I’d been involved with CMYSA before I left and went up to Fargo. Their director of coaching was moving and they were looking for someone to fill that spot. After spending 40 hours a week indoors in front of a computer, the idea of working outside sounded really good to me.”
The fit proved a good one, and Willaert has remained with the organization ever since – currently serving as president. That’s in addition to her work at CSB. Since 2017 she has been an instructor of exercise and sports science and for the past 11 seasons she has been an assistant coach with the Bennie soccer team.
“Emily is one of the strongest advocates for soccer we have in this area,” CSB head coach Steve Kimble said. “There have been a lot of people who have contributed to the growth of the sport here, and I don’t want to take anything away from any of them. But the amount of time and effort Emily puts in is incredible.”
That was demonstrated again this past summer when Willaert led CMYSA’s efforts to purchase historic Selke Field from St. Cloud State for $350,000. The 16-acre site in southeast St. Cloud was home to SCSU football through the 2003 season, and home to the Huskies softball team until 2004. CMYSA – which provides programming for around 1,100 kids each year – had rented it in the past.
But now it can serve as a permanent home base for the organization, which offers both competitive travel teams and in-house recreational leagues.
“When we first started talking with St. Cloud State, the price was too high and there was no way we would have been able to get it done,” said Willaert of the facility, which is surrounded by an iconic granite wall constructed by the Works Progress Administration as part of the New Deal in the 1930s. “But as the process continued, we hit a price point that allowed us to make it happen.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. Where else in this area could we establish a 16-acre soccer complex without having to take care of irrigation and all the other costs that come along with construction.”
Willaert said CMYSA’s long-term aspirations for the facility could include installing a turf field, and perhaps even on-site training and meeting rooms.
“There’s so much history in this place and we want to be good stewards of that,” she said. “They’ve played football and softball there over the years. It was once the site of student housing (at SCSU). The wall is a historic landmark.
“The history is one of the big things that drew us there, and we’re looking forward to continuing to add to that.”
Willaert said her experience as a student-athlete, and now as a faculty member and coach, at CSB helps inform her work with CMYSA as well.
“I do think there are parallels between the Benedictine Values that CSB and SJU are structured around, and the things we are trying to teach our club athletes through soccer,” she said. “Stewardship, discipline, humility and community are values we try to stress as well. We try to give our athletes a safe environment to practice.
“We want to produce not just great athletes, but future leaders and positive examples for the community.”