Drew Rea
Head Men's Soccer Coach
Rea joins the Leopards after most recently serving as the head coach at Norco College. At Norco, he led the Mustangs to two Inland Empire Athletic Conference titles, made the playoffs five times, and went from ranked 130th in the state to top five in Rea's six years in charge.
He spent 11 years at Cal State Dominguez Hills assisting both the men's and women's soccer teams and one year at UC Riverside as men's soccer's assistant head coach. With the Toro's, he claimed the 2008 Men's NCAA DII National Championship, the women's 2009 NCAA Division II runner up, six California Collegiate Athletic Association titles, and eleven total playoff berths. At UCR, he helped the Highlanders capture a Big West Championship.
Outside of collegiate athletics, Rea has served as the Director of Soccer for Legends FC since 2016. With Legends, he is the Boys Elite Club National League Director and acts as a college advisor for the boys. Under his supervision, the boys' program rose from 89th in the country to the top five in under three years.
Rea moved to the United States with his family in the 1980s from Downpatrick, Northern Ireland and played soccer at Aquinas High School in San Bernardino where he won a CIF Title. He began his college career at Western Michigan University before transferring to Cal State Bakersfield where he was a two-time All-American. After his collegiate career ended, Rea returned to Ireland to play professionally for Glentoran before transitioning into coaching.
Rea completed his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Exercise Science at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2016 and received his master's degree in Sports Management from St. Thomas University in 2018. Off the field, he is inspired by his wife Faith, who is a board-certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and Director at Casa Colina, and his children Braydon and Emma. Rea and his family reside in La Verne.