Kenichi Yatsuhashi: Who is he?

Coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi comes to Hearts of Oak, after a stellar head coaching career spanning the past 9 seasons at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC).

Yatsuhashi also performed double duty as the Head Women’s Soccer Coach for 5 of those seasons. During his stint at BMCC, Yatsuhashi’s teams have won 6 conference championships, a Region XV Championship, and a District Championship.

In 2005, Yatsuhashi guided BMCC to the NJCAA Division III nationals, and finished the 3rd best team in the country. Because of his team’s success in 2005, Coach Yatsuhashi garnered individual honors by being named NSCAA Coach of the year by his peers.

Prior to BMCC’s most successful in men’s soccer, Coach Yatsuhashi was selected to coach the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) All-Star team, which competed in the Goodwill South African Tour.

On top of winning championships, Yatsuhashi’s teams have been chosen for two Region XV sportsmanship awards and two other Referee’s Association sportsmanship awards.

As a coach highly dedicated to his sport, Coach Yatsuhashi holds many licenses and certifications in coaching soccer. He holds a USSF A and National Youth coaching license, a CONCACAF International Coaching license, an NSCAA Goalkeeping diploma, and a KNBV Advanced diploma.

With all of these qualifications Coach Yatsuhashi has been able to coach Suzuyo Shimizu, a Japanese professional women’s team; the ENY ODP program; local youth club teams, and served as an instructor for the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association Coaching Education Program.

The current Brooklyn resident arrived in New York in December 1988 and established himself as a very popular coach much more concerned with his players and their development than actual wins and losses.

Youth teams that he coached included the Elmont Ravens girls team in theLong Island Junior Soccer League, the Brooklyn Patriots boys team in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League plus the Gotham Girls Chargers of the Westchester Youth Soccer League and ENYYSA Premier League. He also served as a referee.

Before coaching the junior college ASA men during the past two years, Kenny coached both the men’s and women’s teams of the Borough of Manhattan Community College(BMCC).

During his stellar career at BMCC, his men’s teams won six conference championships, a Region XV Championship and a District Championship. In 2005, CoachYatsuhashi guided BMCC to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament, finishing as the third-best team in the country.

That same year, he was awarded the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Coach of the Year by his peers. Coach Yatsuhashi has also had the honor of coaching the City University of New York (CUNY) Athletic Conference All-Star team, which competed in the Goodwill South African Tour.

On top of winning championships, his teams were chosen for two Region XV Sportsmanship awards and two additional Sportsmanship Awards as voted by the referees of the New York Metro Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NYMISOA).