Mark Franklin begins his second season as an assistant coach with the men's soccer program at the University of Memphis. Franklin came to Memphis in the spring of 2009 after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the Christian Brothers University women's program the previous two seasons. "I really admired Mark as a player (at CBU) and I am excited to be able to add a person with his competitive spirit and winning attitude to our program," Grant said. "We have given him a lot of responsibility in terms of coaching our defenders. Mark is already well engrained into the soccer community in Memphis. I have had the opportunity to get to know him both as a coach and a friend over the years he has been in Memphis, and I really think he will be an asset to us in recruiting players to the program and promoting Memphis soccer throughout the community." In his two years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Franklin helped the Lady Bucs to 18 wins, including a third-place finish in the Gulf South Conference in 2008. Last season, he helped lead his defenders at CBU to the third-best goals-against average in the conference. Franklin, a former player at CBU from 2000-03, was an all-conference selection three of his four collegiate seasons and served as a team captain his senior season in 2003. As a freshman, Franklin was a member of the Bucs 2000 Gulf South Conference Championship squad that went on to make the Final 16 at the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament. During his collegiate years, the native of Boksburg, South Africa, also took his talents on the soccer pitch to the Premier Development League as a member of the Memphis Express. During his two seasons with the Express, the squad finished first in the Mid-South Conference in 2002 and second in the conference in 2003. Franklin, known throughout the Memphis soccer community as "Lefty" is the son of Carol and the late Barry Franklin. He has two elder sisters, Lisa and Kirsty, and one younger brother, Ross. |
Memphis Tigers
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