Ben Manoogian
Assistant Coach

Ben Manoogian joined the Colby Men's Soccer coaching staff to begin the 2023-24 academic year.

Before Colby, Manoogian was the Men's Assistant Coach at Colby-Sawyer College for the 2022-2023 season. He brings three plus years of semi-professional playing experience, most recently playing for USL 2 side Boston City FC in 2022. Manoogian has also made stops playing for Soccerviza FC in Costa Rica and Grythyttans IF in Sweden.

Manoogian is a graduate of fellow NESCAC institution Connecticut College, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts in Economics. On the soccer pitch Manoogian was a four year student-athlete and a two-year team captain. He was honored as a First Team All-New England and All-NESCAC member twice, along with earning Second Team Scholar All-American honors in 2018.

"I am extremely excited to join the Colby Men's Soccer program, as well as the entire community of Colby and Waterville! I look forward to competing in the NESCAC again and cannot wait to get the season going and be with the team."

Yuri Nascimento
Soccer Goalie Coach

Yuri Nascimento joined the Colby Men's and Women's Soccer coaching staff during the 2022-23 academic year. He is a former professional and collegiate goalkeeper who nowadays has switched his lifestyle to the sidelines to be a goalkeeper coach and soccer coach.

Nascimento is currently the goalkeeper director at the Pitch in Warren, Maine where he trains goalkeepers year around. During the 2021-2022 season he was responsible for working with about 60 goalkeepers from ages seven all the way to college goalkeepers. Nascimento does not only coach goalkeepers though. Working with DSA United he found success as a Head Coach winning the State Championship of the Maine Premier League in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021. In Nascimento's opinion, the major aspect of coaching is to implement the right values in his athletes and connect with them to make all these values turn into lifelong lessons that he hopes will carry on when their playing time is over.

Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nascimento comes from a humble background. A community called Vila Dayse where he grew up playing soccer with his friends at three years old, eventually leading to signing his first professional contract at the age of 16. Nascimento played for well-known clubs in Brazil such as Cruzeiro and Sao Caetano. In 2010 and 2011 he was named Goalkeeper of the Year and received the Perseverance award.

In 2015, Nascimento moved to the United States without knowing any English and started his journey to play college soccer with the dream of conquering a degree in one of his favorite fields, psychology. Freshman year Nascimento received a full ride to play for Eastern New Mexico University where he completed his Associates Degree in General Studies. Sophomore year he followed his Coach Justin Harrison to Ottawa University in Arizona. In Arizona, Nascimento had two successful years where he was the starting goalkeeper, one of the team captains, and helped his team reach Nationals both years only falling short in the semifinals in the Division 1 tournament. Throughout his four years playing college soccer, Nascimento collected two All American awards, two All Conferences, two All Regions, and in 2018 he was called up to play for the indoor soccer Brazilian National Team. Nascimento graduated from Ottawa University with a B.A. in Psychology and a 4.0 GPA, finishing his senior year named the Psi Chi Vice President.

Yuri also has his own brand named Excel that not only develops high quality goalkeeper gloves at a affordable price but supports local athletes and the children from his local childhood community in Brazil. Excel is a brand that develops athletes by mentoring them, supporting their mental health, and has as one of its primary goals to promote excellence.

Nascimento now resides here in Maine after moving to the area in December of 2019 where he married his wife Courtney Nascimento in 2020 and had their first daughter Sophia Nascimento the following year.