SPSCC Women’s Soccer Names Benjamin Willis as New Head Coach

South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) is proud to announce the hiring of Benjamin (Ben) Willis as the new Clipper Women's Soccer coach.

"I'm incredibly excited to lead the SPSCC Women's Soccer program and build something truly special. What I'm most looking forward to is the opportunity to work with a group of passionate, driven student-athletes and help them unlock their full potential — on and off the field," said Coach Willis.

Willis is a native of Federal Way, Wash. and he played as the starting goalkeeper at Federal Way High School. He continued his soccer career at Division I Gonzaga University, where he was a three-year starter and played in 57 games for the Zags.

After graduating from Gonzaga with a degree in kinesiology, Willis played for Lane United of the USL Premier Development League from 2016 to 2017 before joining the Seattle Sounders U-23 side in 2018. In 2019, he joined USL Championship's Rio Grande Valley FC (who were affiliated with Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo), where he played for two years before retiring from professional soccer to focus on coaching.

Willis returned to the Puget Sound region to begin his career as a coach. He served as the assistant/goalkeeper coach for USL 2's Ballard FC from 2022 to 2023 while simultaneously holding the women's assistant/goalkeeper coaching position for the University of Puget Sound from 2022 to 2024.

In 2024, Willis was hired as the head coach for FC Olympia's USL W League team and led the team to a conference finals appearance. Later that year, Willis made the jump to coaching in the professional leagues as he was named the assistant/goalkeeping coach for the USL Super League's Lexington SC.

Now, Willis makes his way back home to the Pacific Northwest and looks to bring his wealth of experience as a coach to the SPSCC Women's Soccer program. "I can't wait to develop a team identity that reflects grit, creativity, and a fearless desire to play the game the right way," said Willis.

With last season being a bit of a rough patch for the Lady Clippers, Willis looks to inject the Clippers with a winning mentality that will revamp the program. "My vision is to establish SPSCC as a program that consistently competes with excellence, develops high-character players, and earns respect across the region for our style of play and our culture," mentioned Willis.

"We're setting a high bar — not just in terms of results, but in how we train, how we support each other, and how we represent our college. This is about building a sustainable, winning culture where success is measured by development, discipline, and the pride we take in wearing the SPSCC jersey. The future is bright, and I'm honored to help shape it," concluded Willis.