SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Simon Sheppard joined the St. Francis soccer coaching staff this spring, assisting Head Coach Rosella Kelly with the goalkeepers at all three levels of the Troubadour program.

“You build relationships with all the young ladies and it is about building that trust factor and believing what you are telling them,” said Sheppard. “The girls are very open-minded and will benefit from that. I love to develop young people.”

Sheppard is a former English professional football (soccer) player. He played for the Chelsea, Redding and Watford Football Clubs and represented his country at the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship on the England U-19 team. He also played at the England National Soccer School and with the England Schoolboys.

“Simon is an excellent goalkeeper coach,” said Head Coach Rosella Kelly. “We are really lucky to have him. He has a lot of knowledge to help the goalkeepers and it is a plus to have him able to focus on every little thing they need. He is more knowledgeable when it comes positioning and footwork and technique that I could not teach them.”

Sheppard also is the goalkeeping coach for the Sacramento Republic, a USL Pro Expansion organization and potential 2016 expansion team, and the Granite Bay Football Club.

“With the Sacramento Republic, it is a great thing to bring to Sacramento and it is going to be a huge success,” said Sheppard. “The coaches have a lot of experience. For me, it was an opportunity I could not turn down.”

Sheppard owns and operates Elite Soccer, working with athletes as young as 10 years old up to college level.