COACHING STAFF

ANTE COP
Head Coach

Ante Cop (AHN-tay CHOPE) was named head coach for the inaugural women's soccer program at Governors State on January 2, 2019. He also served as coordinator of athletic fundraising and booster club events.

Raised in South Chicago and of Croatian descent, Cop currently serves as head coach of the Men's U.S. Futsal National Team and was with the Hoosier Futbol Club development program based in Noblesville, Indiana prior to his new role at Governors State.

Cop is no stranger to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), having served seven seasons (2007-14) as assistant men's coach at Robert Morris. He also spent the 2005 campaign as goalkeeper coach for the men's program at NCAA Division III Dominican in River Forest.

Cop also has experience at the NCAA Division I level, coaching goalkeepers for the Ball State women's program during the 2014 season and the IUPUI men's team in 2015. Cop started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach for the men's program at UMass-Lowell in 1998.

As a professional player, Cop played for NK Marsonia Slavonski Brod, Tucson Fireballs, Arizona Thunder, Chicago Riot, Milwaukee Wave, where he won a MISL title in 2012 and Rockford Rampage, helping them to an AISL league title in 2007-08 season. He also coached the Cedar Rapids Rampage in 2017-18 and led them to their first ever MASL playoff appearance after taking over mid-season.

A Mount Carmel High School alumnus, Cop played collegiately at Southern New Hampshire (1995-98), where he became the school's first All-American goalkeeper. He received a bachelor's in marketing and a master's in sports administration from SNHU.

Cop owns a USSF B National License, an NSCAA Premier Diploma and an NSCAA National Goalkeeping License. He is fluent in six languages — Bosnian, Croatian, English, French, Serbian and Spanish.

Ante and his wife Kim have a nine-year-old son, A.J., and reside in Crown Point, Indiana.