Eastern Illinois University Athletics

Following a six-year stint at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, during which she transitioned from a graduate assistant to associate head coach, Rockford native Summer Perala has returned to the state where she grew up and attended college to become the head coach of Eastern Illinois women’s soccer.

 

Just the third head coach in program history, Perala played against the Panthers in each of her four years (1998-01) as the starting goalkeeper at cross-state rival Western Illinois.

 

Perala joined Paul Harbin’s coaching staff at UAB in June 2003 as a graduate assistant. The Blazers enjoyed quite a bit of success during her time with the program, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2006. UAB was the Conference USA regular-season champion in 2003 to go along with its tournament titles in ‘04 and ‘06. The 2004 team won a school-record 16 games and defeated Wake Forest in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

 

Perala made an immediate impact on UAB’s goalkeeper corps, which was comprised of only a pair of freshman ‘keepers when she arrived on campus. In 2003 the Blazers limited the opposition to 21 goals in 19 games and registered nine shutouts, both program records. The defensive excellence carried UAB to a 13-win season and its first C-USA title.

 

Perala completed a master’s degree in the fall of 2005 and was invited to stay on as a full-time assistant coach, while also serving as the Director of UAB Girls Soccer Goalkeeper Camps. She was promoted to associate head coach after the 2006 season. Harbin also proved to be a valuable mentor during her six years in Birmingham.

 

“Paul was a fantastic mentor and allowed me to be involved in every aspect of the UAB program,” Perala says. “He was instrumental in helping me see the bigger picture in college athletics. As a coach, you are attempting to mold a student-athlete into a well-rounded, productive and successful individual. Paul instilled the value of doing the right thing, and doing it well.”

 

Although EIU and UAB have never squared off in women’s soccer, Perala still got an opportunity to see the Panthers play regularly in Birmingham. From 2003-07 a memorable rivalry developed between EIU and Birmingham’s other Division I university, Samford. Eastern and Samford squared off in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament four times during the Bulldogs’ five years as a league member – including three straight years (2003-05) in the title game. Perala says she always made a point of attending the EIU-Samford games in Birmingham whenever possible.

Now a college head coach for the first time, Perala is excited to begin putting her mark on the only program to qualify for the OVC Tournament every season the event has been held.

 

“I’m very excited about this opportunity,” she says. “Eastern Illinois has such a solid reputation in both academics and athletics. The university has all the right tools to attract the student-athlete that will have an impact on the field and help bring our program back to the top of a challenging Ohio Valley Conference. Having played against Eastern, I understand the success this program has enjoyed in the past and the type of players who contributed to that success. I believe that in combining player personalities of our current squad with the incoming players, we can only get better. Based on the support from the administration and team, I couldn’t have asked for a better environment to step into.”

 

Perala does plan on diversifying both the roster and schedule. She acknowledges the success that EIU has had with a Midwestern focus in the recruiting and scheduling efforts, but would like to expand the program’s profile toward the horizons.

 

“For our initial recruiting efforts, we’re really looking to bring in athletic, blue collar, hard-working kids that are competent technically and tactically. We’ve been fortunate with getting kids outside of the Midwest to look at Eastern Illinois. I understand there’s a depth of talent in Illinois and the St. Louis area; this region is very soccer savvy. However, our job is to not only bring in the best players from Illinois and the region, but from out-of-state as well.”

 

Perala finished her playing career as the all-time saves (570) leader in both Western Illinois and Summit League history, averaging more than eight saves per game over her four years. Her .835 save percentage in 1999 was the single-season school record until 2007. On four occasions, she made 15-plus saves in a game.

 

She also credits her college coach, Jen Daniels, for helping to highlight her current career path. Perala says she came to Western as a pre-med major before making the transition to the education department as a sophomore. She served as a student assistant for one season at WIU while finishing her degree. After student teaching, she spent the spring of 2003 as the head coach of the girls’ varsity team at Guilford High School, her alma mater.

 

While EIU as a university and its women’s soccer program had already impressed Perala for some time, the players she has inherited also made a strong first impression in the spring.

“The team did a wonderful job of adjusting to the different expectations when I arrived,” she says. “I’ll give them their due; they worked extremely hard and did everything I asked of them and then some. We had a little bit of a rough start, but by our third match (a 3-0 win against Valparaiso) everything seemed to be coming together. It felt good to end the spring with a game like that, and it gave the team motivation to come into the fall season prepared to hit the ground running.”