TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Erika True announced this afternoon (May 19) her resignation as head coach of the Indiana State women's soccer program, effective July 1. She will be relocating to Cincinnati during the course of the summer after her husband, Josh True, accepted the position of Clinical Athletic Trainer with Mercy Health. He is leaving his position of Rehabilitation Specialist in the Indiana State Physical Therapy and Sports Rehabilitation Clinic in early June.
"Josh has been offered and accepted a wonderful job opportunity with Mercy Health in Cincinnati, Ohio," True said. "As a family we have decided to not pass up the opportunity to get closer to family and friends as our family starts a new chapter in our lives. This has been a very tough decision for Josh and myself. We have been surrounded by the wonderful people of Indiana State for nearly eight years. They have been our family, friends, mentors and peers."
Indiana State Director of Athletics Sherard Clinkscales has announced that assistant coaches Alison Conquest and Will Lange will be retained, at a minimum, through the 2016 season. Additionally, coach True will remain with the program during this transition. Clinkscales will begin a national search immediately for True's replacement.
"I appreciate the contributions that Erika and Josh True have made to ISU Athletics," Clinkscales said. "We wish her family well in their future endeavors."
True wraps up her seven-year tenure with 45 career victories. The Sycamores posted the school's most successful season in program history in 2013, going 10-9 and 4-2 in the Valley. She guided 17 student-athletes to All-MVC honors and six more to MVC All-Freshman status in her seven seasons in charge of the program.
Indiana State finished with the first winning record in program history in 2013, finishing 10-9-0 overall. They also finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference, their best finish in the 15-year history of the program with a 4-2-0 record.
In addition, the Sycamores matched the longest win streak in program history in 2013, with six-consecutive wins from Oct. 11-Nov. 10. The Sycamores placed three student-athletes to the All-MVC first team while three rookies picked up All-Freshman team honors. Three ISU student-athletes also earned spots on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team (Sydney Loesing, Shelby Troyer and Kate Johnson).
"I want to thank President Dan Bradley and his wife Cheri for being the biggest fans and cheerleaders for our program and my family," True commented. "I can't thank them enough for the continued support. They truly touched our lives in so many ways. I also want to thank Sherard Clinkscales for his understanding in my decision to step away from this program. Being in his first few weeks as the AD at ISU I am sure he was not expecting to deal with a change like this. His professionalism and kindness is appreciated and I know that ISU is in good hands under his guidance."
The Sycamores reached the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship Game twice during True's seven seasons. Indiana State reached the final in both the 2012 and 2013 campaigns.
In 2012, Indiana State put together a four-game unbeaten streak late in the year, earning the fifth seed in the conference tournament before pulling off upsets of No. 4 seed Northern Iowa and No. 1 seed Evansville en route to the tournament finals.
In her second season in 2010, True continued to lead the Indiana State women's soccer program to new heights, as the Sycamores finished the 2010 season with an 8-10-1 record. True led the Sycamores to a 6-2 start to the season, the best opening to a campaign in program history. The Sycamores finished with the second-most wins in school history, while also setting the school record for fewest goals allowed. Under True, ISU also set the program record for most MVC Player of the Week selections (five), most MVC First Team Scholar-Athlete selections (four), most overall MVC Scholar-Athlete selections (five). Indiana State also led the entire Missouri Valley Conference in 2010 in first team and overall selections to the scholar-athlete team.
Under True's direction, the Sycamores set several individual records in 2010. Junior Alison Gasparovich set the then ISU record for goals in a single season (9) while junior Emily Lahay tallied the lowest goals against average for a year and tied the program record for most shutouts with five.
True was hired at Indiana State on February 10, 2009, after spending four seasons as the assistant coach at Indiana University. Before arriving in Bloomington in 2005, True served as an assistant coach at Creighton from 2003 through 2005.
"I also want to thank Ron Prettyman for taking a chance on me so many years ago and I hope that I have made an impact like he had envisioned," True commented. "I could not have asked for a better athletic administration to work under during my time at ISU. They were supportive, driven and encouraging every day in the athletic offices. A special thanks to Angie Lansing who has overseen this program while under my tutelage. She was my rock, mentor, sounding board, leader, cheerleader and supporter every single day. The entire ISU athletic staff deserves a thank you for the constant support of my program and staff. ISU athletics truly is a special place to be."
True concluded her time on the field as a player in 2002 after spending four seasons at Bowling Green. As team captain at Bowling Green in 2002, True finished her career holding every goalkeeping record (single-match, season, and career) in school history. She was the second player in school history to earn First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors and set conference career records for minutes played and saves.
True graduated from Bowling Green in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in Art Education. While serving as an assistant coach at Creighton, True earned her master's degree in Secondary Education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2005. True also holds a NSCAA National Diploma, NSCAA Goalkeeping Diploma, and an Advanced NSCAA National Diploma
True and her husband, Josh, were married in June 2007. Their daughter Lillyan was born in December 2013 and their son Landon arrived in August of 2015.
