John van Buskirk

Van Buskirk was a star player for his Granite City high school team, where he won two state championships, was chosen for the IHSA All-State team, was a Gatorade All-American, and served as team captain his senior year. After high school, John went to play for Indiana University. With Indiana, his team reached the #1 overall ranking in the country and played in a national championship. He went on to play 12 years of professional soccer in Germany. He made appearances in Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, and German Regionalliga. Buskirk was the team captain of Sportfreunde Siegen in the 2. Bundesliga for three years. He made a total of 272 professional soccer appearances in Germany and scored 63 goals total.

As a coach, Van Buskirk holds a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) international C License. His professional coaching career includes Kickers Emden (2006–07) and he was an assistant coach for AC St. Louis until the team folded in 2010. John's college coaching career includes Men's head coach at Mckendree University (2013–2016) and an assistant coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) from 2011 to 2013. Currently, he is the Director of Coaching and Player Development at Glen-Ed Soccer Club in Edwardsville, IL.