New Providence High School is home to many successful sports teams, and none of their victories would be possible without the dedicated coaches who inspire athletes to strive for success.

Craig Barclay has coached soccer at NPHS for 7 years, leading the team to many victories. Without his excellent coaching, the team would not be where it is today. Barclay’s coaching style is driven by a true passion for the sport.

Barclay’s history with soccer goes way back, beginning in Edinburgh, Scotland. Soccer is a huge part of Scottish culture, “wherever you are, somebody’s talking about it, playing it, or watching it. It’s just life” Barclay recalls.

This resulted in Barclay spending most of his childhood out on the pitch:  “I have two brothers, an older one called Scott, and a younger brother called Allister, so we spent a lot of time on the soccer field.”

Years of practice and dedication paid off, and at age 18 Barclay moved to the USA to play soccer in Indiana. He played in Indiana for 3 years, before returning to Edinburgh for 9 months and then coming back out to the USA with a soccer coaching company.

Paying tribute to his roots is very important to Barclay. While he doesn’t get to visit as often as he would like, he tries to make a visit to the place where it all started every 2 years.

He’s been coaching soccer ever since. Recently, Barclay’s skillful leadership helped guide the varsity boys to the semi-finals, where they played a very close game.