Kirsten Koester was named the Grinnell women's soccer coach in June of 2014 after serving as head coach at Cornell College. She also took on the role of Grinnell's Senior Woman Administrator in the summer of 2019.
Her teams have qualified for for the Midwest Conference Tournament eight of her 11 years while going 54-29-3 in league play. In 2022, Koester coached the Pioneers to their first league title in more than a decade as well as hosting rights for the MWC Tournament. Grinnell won the tourney and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament, both firsts for the program since 2006. She was named MWC Coach of the Year in 2022.
At Grinnell, she has coached five All-Region performers and 37 All-MWC performers.
Before coming to Grinnell, Koester found success at Cornell and in 2013 guided the Rams to their best season since 2002.
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 College 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 also played basketball three years at Luther.
Koester received a bachelor’s degree in English and Art in 2005 and remained in Decorah as an assistant basketball coach for Luther during the 2005-06 season.
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 former Pioneer men's assistant soccer coach and player Parker Koester and they have two sons and a daughter.
