Victor Benavides enters his first season as assistant coach for the Academy of Art University men's soccer team.
Benavides, who formerly worked as a 14-year assistant coach for the Notre Dame de Namur University men's and women's soccer programs, brings not only a familiarity with the Pacific West Conference, but also a variety of international experience to his new role with the Urban Knights.
Assisting NDNU soccer from 1995 to 2008, Benavides' coaching career was highlighted by a pair of trips to Nationals with women's soccer and a single trip to Nationals with men's soccer in 2008. He would also serve as the interim Director of Soccer for a portion of that time.
Benavides contributed with a variety of international experiences while coaching the Argonauts including taking the team on European trip to England, Belgium, and Holland in 2001. In 2005, as part of a People to People Ambassador Program, he accompanied a Boys Under-17 team to Holland as U.S. representatives overseas. Benavides also acted as a player-coach for a select team who traveled to Tahiti in 1997.
Prior to his extended stay with the Argonauts, Benavides was a regular on the soccer field himself. He began his collegiate soccer career playing two years for Skyline College where he captured a Junior Championship to cap off one of those seasons. Benavides then transferred to NDNU, competing for the Argos from 1993 to 1994.
