SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Shippensburg University Director of Athletics Dr. Roberta Page announced Wednesday that Gettysburg assistant coach Jeremy Spering has been hired as the 10th men’s soccer coach in school history, replacing 11-year veteran Guy Furfaro who resigned to become the president of College Soccer Quest.

“I am very excited to be given the opportunity to be the head men’s soccer coach at Shippensburg University,” Spering said.

A 2002 graduate of Slippery Rock, Spering was the assistant women’s soccer coach at Gettysburg College this past fall and was a three-year veteran of the men’s soccer coaching staff at James Madison from 2004-06. He earned his master's degree in exercise physiology from James Madison and holds an advanced national coaching license from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

"To be able to get back into the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and coach at the Division II level is a wonderful opportunity,” Spering said. “The level of play and the environment is irreplaceable and I am very excited to have a hands-on approach with each student-athlete at Shippensburg.”

The six-year collegiate coaching veteran is also a specialist in strength and conditioning and has consulted with several camps and training programs. Earlier this year, Spering joined Furfaro and current women’s soccer head coach Rob Fulton as instructors at the 2008 Slippery Rock Men’s Soccer Camp.

Before graduating with a bachelor's degree in exercise science, Spering was a two-year starter and two-year letter winner on the Slippery Rock men's soccer team after lettering at Elmira College in 1997 and 1998. He also trained with the Bolton Wanderers English Soccer Club in 1994 and the New Jersey Stallions professional soccer team from 1995-96.

While in the Pittsburgh area, Spering served as a volunteer assistant coach at Slippery Rock from 2002-04 and as a high school head coach at Knoch Area and Slippery Rock Area high schools. He also coached the Northern Steel Select youth soccer club in Butler from 1999-2004. In 2002, he guided Slippery Rock to the Mercer County Athletic Conference championship.

A native of Frenchtown, N.J., Spering earned all-state and all-conference honors at Delaware Valley Regional High School where he was captain of the soccer team and participated in the Olympic Development Program.

“I am going to want to start talking with the players about their goals and aspirations for the upcoming season and I will want to set a precedent for their training and establish a philosophy for the future,” Spering said. “We will use the spring as a transition period to get ready for the fall season which is right around the corner.”

In 11 seasons as the head coach of the Shippensburg men's team, Furfaro compiled 89 wins and leaves his position as the second longest tenured head coach at Shippensburg behind head football coach Rocky Rees.

During Furfaro's tenure, the Red Raiders garnered 12 All-PSAC First Team selections and 11 second-team selections, including Geoff Bloes, the school's all-time leading scorer and two-time PSAC Player of the Year. He also spent nine seasons as the head coach of the women's soccer team at Shippensburg until Fulton was named head coach prior to the 2006 season.

In addition to running College Soccer Quest, an organization which Furfaro founded in 2007 that helps high school soccer players with the college recruiting process, he will continue at Shippensburg as an assistant to Page.