Kirsten Koester came to Grinnell in June 2014 as the Pioneers' head women's soccer and assistant basketball coach.
She was a three-year basketball performer at Luther College and served as assistant coach for the Decorah school during the 2005-06 season.
Koester led the Cornell College women's soccer team from 2011-2013, guiding the Rams to their best season since 2002 during her final campaign. Prior to coaching at Cornell, Koester was head soccer coach and athletics recruiting coordinator at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland for two years.
The Stoughton, Wis., native attended Luther where she was a standout player. A two-time All-Iowa Conference midfielder for the Norse, she also served as team captain and was voted the team’s Most Valuable Player as a senior while leading the squad to the league title. Koester gained her bachelor's degree in English and Art in 2005.
Koester gained her master’s degree in English from Washington College in Maryland in 2009. She was the assistant women’s soccer coach at Washington from 2006-08 and also assisted the women’s basketball squad for a season.
Koester holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) national “D” license and has been active in the Maryland Youth Soccer Association District Development Program. She held previous positions as a U-12 club coach for the Winneshiek Area Soccer Program in Decorah and the Phoenix Soccer Club in Minneapolis, Minn.
She also coached the club team FC United in Marion.
Koester is married to Parker Koester and they have two sons and a daughter.
