LACEY, Wash. — The Saint Martin's Men's Soccer program today announced the hiring of Dewayne Thomas for the role of assistant men's soccer coach.

Thomas joins the Saints with four years of experience coaching in Thurston County at the high school and youth levels. He spent four years as the head coach for boys and girls varsity soccer at North Thurston High School, as well as four years as a premier staff coach with Blackhills FC.

"Dewayne is going to be an outstanding addition to our program," Saint Martin's Head Coach Rob Walker said. "His experience in the game is a great selling point, but his real life experience will be a draw for sure. Time flies in college athletics and while we work really hard to affect are players while they are on-campus, the key is to help influence our players' live when they leave here. Dewayne is going to be great in both roles."

At North Thurston High School, Thomas led the Rams boys team to 23 wins across three seasons and nine wins on the girls side. Thomas directed all aspects of the boys and girls varsity soccer programs, including tactical preparation, strength and conditioning, player development, and assistant coach training and supervision. He also analyzed game film, developed scouring reports and tactical adjustments, managed program operations, oversaw the team's budget, and coordinated travel, logistics, scheduling, and academic compliance.

Thomas served as the head coach for boys and girls teams at Blackhills FC, managing player pools, tactical periodization, and technical development. He worked in film development to create tactical breakdowns and video analysis to improve player performance. During this time, Thomas also worked with players to create organized game film highlights in order to assist in outreach to college recruiters.

Prior to his time in Thurston County, Thomas spent a season as assistant varsity soccer coach with Vicenza High School in Vicenza Italy.

Outside of athletics, Thomas spent one year as a Port of Seattle Police Officer, and served seven years as. U.S. Army Sergeant (E5), Airborne Ranger.