Robbie Kroger - Soccer Coach - Mississippi State

Robbie Kroger

Title:
Volunteer Assistant Coach

Robbie Kröger, a Johannesburg, South Africa, native, brings over 20 years of playing experience into his fourth season working with State's goalies and assisting with some of the program's summer camps.

In his first three seasons working with the Bulldog soccer program, he helped develop Skylar Rosson into one of the SEC's top goalies.

In 2010 Rosson posted 110 saves, fifth-most in MSU single-season history. A year later she posted a conference-best and NCAA ninth-most 131 saves while cutting her goals allowed tally nearly in half.

Under his guidance, Rosson stopped 337 career shots, second-most in MSU history, while setting a new Bulldog standard with 12 career blank sheets, including two against No. 20 Auburn and No. 11 Florida in 2011. Rosson's blank sheet against the Gators earned her Soccer America Team of the Week accolades as well as SEC Defensive Player of the Week.

Prior to focusing on his academic career, Kröger played on several provincial teams.

His first taste of elite soccer action came as a member of the U12 and U14 Eastern Transvaal Provincial teams. A couple of years later he earned a place on the Southern Regional Schools U16 squad in his native Johannesburg.

During 1995 and 1996 he enjoyed a stint playing for VFL Michelstadt in the Hessen Regional Liga, Germany.

In 1996, Kröger also had the opportunity to play for Balfour Park in Johannesburg's U19 Premier Soccer League. Kröger earned Goalkeeper of the Club honors as he helped Balfour Park claim the Preseason Cup, Premier League title and the Premier Cup.

His play for Balfour Park helped earn him a professional trial with Wits University, a team in South Africa's Premier Soccer League.

Kröger's passion for goalkeeping stayed with him during his transition to the United States.

Upon his arrival in Starkville, he had the opportunity to train the goalkeepers for both Starkville Academy and Starkville High School. Kröger also provides private goalkeeper training for aspiring net-minders in the area.

Kröger takes pride in developing quality goalkeepers because he believes that they "hold the heart of the team on their sleeve, and that good training, awareness and athletic skills translate to team confidence and positive playing mentality on the pitch."

When not on the soccer field instructing State's goalkeepers, Kröger is instructing students in the classroom as an Assistant Professor in Mississippi State's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Kröger, born July 28, 1978, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, came to Starkville after earning a Ph.D in Biology from the University of Mississippi.

Prior to continuing his studies in the Magnolia State, Kröger attended the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, obtaining Bachelor of Science degrees in Botany and Environmental Conservation Biology and a Master of Science in River and Wetland Ecology.

Kröger is married to the former Lisa Blair Sloan of Memphis, Tenn. The pair welcomed a son, Leo James Kröger, on Dec. 19, 2011, and are expecting a second boy, Eli Thomas Kroger.