John van Buskirk

John van Buskirk (born April 13, 1972 in Granite City, Illinois) is an American soccer coach and a former player. He was a standout for his high school team in Granite City where he won two state championships, selected to the All State IHSA team, Gatorade All American and team captain during his senior year. After high school, John went to play for Indiana University. With Indiana, his team reached the #1 overall ranking in the county and played in a national championship. He would go on to play 12 years of professional football in Germany. He made appearances in Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, and German Regionalliga. Buskirk was the team captain of Sportfreunde Siegen in the 2. Bundesliga for three years and was a great player for the team. He made a total of 273 professional football appearances in Germany and scored 68 goals total.
As a coach, Van Buskirk holds a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) international C License. His professional coaching career includes Kickers Emden (2006-07) and he was an assistant coach for AC St. Louis until the team folded in 2010. John's college coaching career includes Men's head coach at Mckendree University (2013-2016) and an assistant coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) from 2011-2013. Currently, he is the Director of Coaching and Player Development at Glen-Ed Soccer in Edwardsville, IL