Brandon Kim Promoted to USL W League Head Coach
January 14, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Indy Eleven News Release
Indianapolis - Indy Eleven has promoted Brandon Kim to Head Coach of its USL W League team. The Carmel native has been an assistant coach for the Girls in Blue since the team began in 2022, serving as acting head coach for much of the 2024 season.
"I am fortunate to have been part of the coaching staff the last three seasons--to be named head coach is an incredible honor," said Kim. "The Indy soccer community and the Eleven fan base are second to none, to say that I am beyond grateful and excited to be back out on the field with them again in 2025 is an understatement. I would like to thank the club for the opportunity, and I cannot wait to get started."
During his three-year tenure as assistant coach, Kim helped Indy Eleven become one of only three USL W League teams to make the playoffs in all three years of the league's history.
The Girls in Blue won their third straight division title in 2024, topping the Valley Division for the second consecutive season following a Great Lakes Division title in 2022. Last season, Indy posted a 7-1-2 record with five shutouts and a goal differential of +25, reaching the conference finals.
Kim helped Indy Eleven to the 2023 USL W League Championship in front of a record-setting home crowd of 5,419 at Carroll Stadium.
Prior to the Girls in Blue, Kim was an assistant coach at Lady Victory FC in the WPSL and a men's assistant at Marian University for three seasons. He began his coaching career at Carmel United and Park Tudor.
He also is the Indy Eleven Academy Girls U11-U12 Director of Coaching, holding a USSF B Coaching License.
As a player, Kim began competing for the Carmel United Soccer Club, and in the inaugural Developmental Academy teams for Indiana Fire Juniors. Following his Carmel High School career, Brandon played soccer for the University of Southern Indiana for one season, while also running track and field for three years before transferring to earn his bachelor's degree in Communications Studies at IUPUI.
Kelly Freeland continues her role as Goalkeeper Coach for the Girls in Blue for the fourth season.
In 2024, her goalkeepers recorded five clean sheets, with Nona Reason getting three. Reason earned second-team All-USL W League honors in 2023, with Freeland's goalkeepers notching 10 shutouts with only six goals against on their way to the Valley Division title and the 2023 USL W League Championship.
Freeland has coached some of the state's premier goalkeeping talent in the Indiana Olympic Development Program (ODP) since 2017 and as Director of Goalkeeping with Zionsville Youth Soccer Association (ZYSA) for the last five years. Freeland earned her United Soccer Coaches Level I Goalkeeper Diploma.
"I am ecstatic about our staff for 2025," said Kim. "Kelly and Sierra have both played monumental roles in the team's success the last three years. I cannot express how invaluable they are to our staff. I coached Kelly as a youth player; seeing her passion grow and lead her into coaching is a very cool thing, even if it makes me feel a little old."
Sierra Garber enters her fourth season as Head Athletic Trainer for the club's USL W League squad.
Garber served as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer at Western Michigan University, when she enrolled as a master's student in the Broncos' Athletic Training program in 2019. Garber began serving as a Sports Medicine Network Professional for the U.S. Soccer Federation's Youth National Teams in 2019. She served as the Indiana Fire Juniors Academy Athletic Trainer from 2016-18.
"There is no one better at her job than Sierra Garber," said Kim. "She's extremely dedicated to her craft and the players fully trust in her abilities provide any treatment, recovery or prep they need."
Rana Hoffbauer joins the Indy Eleven W League coaching staff as assistant coach in 2025.
Hoffbauer has coached at the semi-pro, college, high school, and club levels in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis. She coached with Brandon Kim at Park Tudor, helping the Panthers to three Sectional, two Regional, and two Conference championships.
Hoffbauer played after college in the W League, WPSL, and UWSL. Collegiately, she began her career at Cincinnati State, earning Regional "Player of the Year" honors. She finished at Marian University, where she still holds the season scoring record. Hoffbauer grew up playing in Cincinnati, with her teams earning second and third-place finishes in national tournaments.
"Adding Rana to our staff brings me great joy," said Kim. "Rana gave me one of my first coaching jobs at a time I thought I was only going to coach while I figured out what I was going to do with my life. Little did I know, almost 15 years later, I would be making a career out of it. Rana has been an incredible mentor, confidant, friend and colleague and I am over the moon to be working with her again."
Lisa Macdonald continues her role as Manager, Team Operations for the Girls in Blue for the fourth season. Macdonald is no stranger to the Eleven's training home of Grand Park, as she has served as the Administrative Director US Youth Soccer (USYS) Travel for the Westfield Youth Soccer Association (WYSA)/Indy Eleven Academy headquartered at the sports campus since 2014. Macdonald will continue to serve in that capacity concurrently while spearheading the W League club's team side operations.
Dr. Sarita Sharp returns as the Girls in Blue Team Chiropractor. She is a familiar face in club circles after serving in a similar capacity for the club's USL Championship side from 2020-21, when her practice, Alpha Health & Wellness in Indianapolis, served concurrently as the Official Chiropractic Partner of Indy Eleven.
The Indy Eleven 2025 USL W League schedule will be announced next month. Home matches are at the Grand Park Events Center in Westfield.
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