Sports

Coach Spotlight: Barry Chastey

By Hailey Hokanson (hhokanson@css.edu)

November 22, 2024

     Fate, luck, and soccer helped lead Barry Chastey to Duluth, Minn. years ago, and the CSS Men’s Soccer program is sure glad that it did. 

     Chastey has been at the helm of the Saints men’s soccer team since 2005. Since taking over the reins, he has led the team to numerous conference titles, helped set NCAA records, and been named Coach of the Year. 

     But his soccer journey started years before the accolades came pouring in, when he was just a young kid in England. 

“I started playing as young as I could remember,” he said. “I was with an academy, called a Center of Excellence then, but I was released at 12, which I believed was definitely the right decision.”

He continued to play the sport throughout his teenage years and for him, weekends were always busy. 

     From the ages of 13-16, Saturdays would consist of playing for one youth team in the morning, then in the afternoon, playing for a men’s league, where he was the youngest player. Sunday morning, Chastey would play rugby, and Sunday afternoon, he’d play for another youth soccer team. 

     “I got scouted by a semi-pro club, took a tryout with them at 15, and I played there until I was 18,” Chastey said.

He continued to play for his college team while attending the University of St. Mark and St. John in Plymouth, England. However, longing for the difficulty and pay of playing semi-professionally, he went back to playing with his former team.

“I ended up in Duluth after being in Myrtle Beach, S. C. where I came to work and travel as a student when I was a junior,” he said. “I spent the whole summer there working at a restaurant, went back and graduated, then thought about going back there.”

     Eventually, he did come back, but after finding out the restaurant had closed, he found his way to Duluth in 1997. 

Three years later, a girl he met while in Duluth became his wife, and the newlyweds decided to settle down in the northern Minnesota city. 

     After that, his opportunity in soccer returned, this time as a coach. 

“I ended up coaching girl’s soccer at Duluth East High School from 2000-2002, and each of those three years we were able to go to state, which was neat,” he said. “Then, the job here at CSS came up to be the assistant coach for both mens and womens soccer, otherwise known as the Head JV Coach at the time, so I applied for that and got the job.” 

     He continued to be the assistant coach at CSS until a position opened up to be the next Head Men’s Soccer Coach for the Saints. “I applied for the position and got it, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

     The adjustment from coaching in England to coaching in the United States was a learning curve for Chastey, but after some research and dedicated time, he started to find things clicking into place. “The set up over here is so different from what I grew up with, so planning and training everyday here was a bit of an adjustment,” he said. “I had to get more material, and I still consider myself a student of the game. I watch a lot of film and do research, but I always feel like I’m learning. You definitely need a lot of tools to coach college over here.”

     Under the direction of Chastey, the Saints claimed eight tournament championships while in the UMAC conference and helped achieve the program’s first NCAA tournament berth. 

Additionally, the team set the NCAA record for the most consecutive conference wins with 69. 

     Off the field and without his coaching title, Chastey spends a majority of his time with his family, even more so now after retiring as the head of Gitchi Gummi Soccer Club, a position he held for 22 years. “I like to travel, and obviously going home to England is a priority when we have the chance,” he said. “My kids have me playing golf now, so maybe that will be my retirement plan.” 

     After an unconventional journey to his current role, Chastey has planted his name in the CSS record books and developed a program that has produced champions, record setters, and passionate players.