Global Football has announced an experienced coaching staff to work alongside head coach and defensive coordinator Don DeWaard as Team Stats & Stripes prepares to head to Mexico for the fifth annual Tazón de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars).
The traveling American Division III all-star team will face the CONADEIP All-Stars the 36,000-capacity Estadio Tecnológico on the Tec de Monterrey campus on Saturday, December 21.
Returning from 2012 are offensive coaches Joe Austin of Southwestern University and Jim Catanzaro from Lake Forest College, who helped Team Stars & Stripes score 15 unanswered points in the second quarter last December in a 32-15 victory at Fortaleza de Azul in Guadalajara on DeWaard’s head-coaching debut.
New to the Tazón de Estrellas, but familiar with Global Football having taken their teams overseas this past summer, are Joe Adam of Elmhurst College and Erik Raeburn from Wabash College. Elmhurst College traveled to Greece and Italy with Global Football, while Wabash College visited Panama.
“Team Stars & Stripes Player Personnel Director John Roslien and head coach Don DeWaard have put together a coaching staff that will bring the best out of the squad from the handful of practices at their disposal,” said Patrick Steenberge, President of Global Football, joint organizers of the Tazón de Estrellas. “We have worked with some great coaches over the years and look forward to a great experience with this group while we are in Mexico next month. These coaches have traveled with Global Football before, so are well versed in the demands of playing international games in front of a passionate home crowd.”
The Team Stars & Stripes player roster will be announced at the beginning of December.
Team Stars & Stripes Coaching Staff
Don De Waard, Central, Head Coach & Defensive Coordinator *
Joe Adam, Elmhurst College, Defense
Erik Raeburn, Wabash College, Offense
Kyle Sweeney, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Defense
Joe Austin, Southwestern University, Offense *
Jim Catanzaro, Lake Forest College, Offense *
John Roslien, Central College, Player Personnel Director *
* Returning coaches
Support staff:
Frank Neu, Central College, Athletic Trainer
Dan Vande Lune, Duke University, Team Physician
Tim Glon, Ohio Northern University, Sports Information
Paden Kleinhesslink, Central College, Athletic Training Student/Equipment Manager
Chris Lobberecht, Central College, Athletic Training Student/Equipment Manager
Juan Lopez, Tarleton State University, Team Coordinator
Team Stars & Stripes Coaching Staff
Don DeWaard, the defensive coordinator at Central College (Iowa), is a veteran of previous Tazón de Estrellas and its predecessor the Aztec Bowl. In 2012 he took over the head coaching responsibilities from former Weidner College head coach Bill Manlove, who was at the helm from 2009 to 2011, and led Team Stars & Stripes to a 32-15 victory in Guadalajara. De Waard is in his 32nd year on the Central staff. He is a 1982 Central graduate and former Dutch player. In 2000, the American Football Coaches Association named De Waard the NCAA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year. He was honored at the AFCA convention in Atlanta, Ga. in January 2001.
Joe Austin was announced as Southwestern Head Football Coach in February 2012, charged with reinstating football at a school that had not competed in the sport for more than 62 years. Austin was Team Stars & Stripes Special Teams coach in 2010 and 2011. Austin came to Southwester after transforming Hanover College’s football program in a short time frame. In three years at Hanover he took a team that was in a decline to a rising star in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, finishing in second place the last two seasons
Jim Catanzaro marked his fifth season as head coach and defensive coordinator of Lake Forest College with an 8-2 record. In 2012 the Foresters also posted an 8-2 record, while under Catanzaro’s direction, and in 2011 set or tied 26 school records, including single-season team marks for points and yards per game. Catanzaro came to Lake Forest from NCAA Division II Wingate University, where he was the defensive line coach for three seasons. The Bulldog defense tallied 86 sacks, led the South Atlantic Conference in turnovers twice, and helped the 2004 team post the best single-season record in the program’s history.
Joe Adam entered the 2013 season beginning his first year as the 18th head football coach in Elmhurst history and led the teams to a 4-6 record. After spending the past six seasons on the Bluejays’ staff, including five seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator, Adam took over the head coaching duties after Tim Lester resigned to take a position at Syracuse University. In addition to serving as the Bluejays’ defensive coordinator, Adam held the title as the team’s recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach for the past five years. Adam spent three seasons coaching at Grand Valley State University where he was a part of two NCAA Division II Championships.
Erik Raeburn entered his sixth season as the Wabash College head football coach and led the team to a 9-1 record. He was named the 2011 NCAC Coach of the Year after leading Wabash to a perfect 6-0 record. He came to Wabash after eight seasons as the head football coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he posted a 57-26 record. Prior to arriving at Coe, Raeburn was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Mount Union College, where he served as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator.
Kyle Sweeney returned for his third year at the helm of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in 2013. In his first season CMS finished third in the SCIAC and two of their three conferences losses were by six points or less. His second season required rebuilding as the Stags started 17 freshmen and sophomores each week. Sweeney came to CMS after two years as the defensive coordinator at the University of Chicago. During those two years, Chicago enjoyed their best season since 1998 and back to back winning seasons for the first time since 2001. In 2010 Chicago won the University Athletic Association title outright.
John Roslien is a member of the staff for his 16th venture into Mexico for either the Tazón de Estrellas or Aztec Bowl and is responsible for recruiting and organizing the player roster. He came to Central College as head athletic trainer in 1986, becoming the athletic training education program director in 2003. He is also an associate professor of exercise science. Roslien was inducted into the Iowa Athletic Trainers Society (IATS) Hall of Honor in 2007 and is a past president of the organization. A native of Decorah, Iowa, Roslien received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in sports administration from Western Illinois University.
Tazón de Estrellas Notes:
The NCAA Division III all-star roster known collectively as Team Stars & Stripes will fly to Mexico on December 15to prepare for the game. The graduating college seniors will travel to Monterrey for a combination of two-a-day practices with an opportunity to explore the local region. They will experience the local culture and participate in a community service project. In 2012, the traveling group helped clear an area of land to benefit an impoverished neighborhood to make it more suitable as a play area for the community’s children, and then held a football clinic for local youngsters.
The Tazón de Estrellas and its forerunner the Aztec Bowl have produced a series of exciting games and established a fierce but friendly rivalry between the Americans and Mexicans. The Tec Monterrey All-Stars won 24-12 in 2009 before Team Stars & Stripes leveled the series with a 48-7 victory in Toluca in 2010 and the CONADEIP All-Stars won by a margin of 45-27 in 2011. It was the turn of the Americans to triumph in 2012 by a score of 32-15 to level the series at 2-2.
Cesar Martinez, who took over the head-coaching role at Tec de Monterrey from legendary retired coach Frank Gonzalez, will coach the CONADEIP All-Stars.
The Tazón de Estrellas is the focal point for the Global Football Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit initiative, which assists athletes in meeting the expenses associated with traveling overseas to realize their dreams of competing against other American football enthusiasts and experiencing different cultures. The foundation allows potential benefactors to make charitable donations to offset costs that might otherwise prevent the student athletes from undertaking the trip of a lifetime. To inquire about making a donation to the Global Football Foundation to assist student-athletes, please contact Patrick Steenberge at Patrick@GlobalFootball.com or 817-219-7274.