IRVINE, Calif. – Orange County SC has appointed Braeden Cloutier as it next Head Coach, with the club’s General Manager & Executive Vice President Oliver Wyss welcoming the club’s former assistant to his new role on Wednesday.

A familiar face for more than a decade on the Orange County soccer scene after completing a 15-year professional career playing in various leagues including Major League Soccer and in Europe, Cloutier has served as an assistant coach for OCSC for the past three years.

“I could not be more excited about this opportunity. I want to thank [OCSC Owner] James [Keston], Oliver and [Technical Director] Frans [Hoek] for their trust and confidence in me,” said Cloutier. “I’ve been a part of the USL in Orange County for three years and look forward to continuing to build on the success the club has had over that time. I have plenty of knowledge of both the USL as a league and Orange County itself as a community. This has been my home for the past twelve years and where I’ve developed as a coach. Southern California has been a hotbed of soccer for quite some time. I want to give the local youth players a platform to grow and develop in the right environment at home.”

Cloutier, 43, began his coaching career in Orange County when he became a player and assistant coach in 2005 and Head Coach of the PDL’s Orange County Blue Star, in 2006. During his tenure, Cloutier helped shape the careers of numerous MLS players such as striker Kei Kamara of New England Revolution and midfielder Sacha Kljestan of the New York Red Bulls, working with these budding superstars at an early age and putting them on the pathway to professional soccer. After the decision to permanently settle in Orange County and raise his three children here, Cloutier spent the last three seasons as assistant coach of Orange County SC and its predecessor, the Orange County Blues.

“We are privileged to have someone with Braeden’s talent and wealth of experience leading our club as our new head coach,” said Wyss. “Braeden exemplifies everything we are looking for as a leader of our team. Braeden played an instrumental role as the lead assistant coach in our back-to-back playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016. He shares our philosophy of creating a relentless and disciplined team culture which consists of players with a strong mentality and character that will lead us back to the playoffs in 2018. Braeden will have a significant impact on our vision of developing and mentoring young, talented players so they can succeed at the top professional levels in the United States and around the globe.”