Rutgers-Camden Athletics

Assistant Coach         Richard Ongaro (1st season)
High School:                        Notre Dame                 
College:                                Holy Family University (2016)
Major:                                   Sports Marketing-Management
 
Richard Ongaro  has compiled quite a soccer resume in his young life, which has included a standout collegiate career, professional playing experience and a coaching career ranging from youth and club soccer to the collegiate level. In his first year as an assistant coach with the University of Northwestern Ohio women’s soccer program, the Racers captured the NAIA national championship in 2016. This fall, Ongaro joins the Rutgers-Camden women’s soccer program.
 
A collegiate goalkeeper, Ongaro played a year of soccer at Division I Virginia Commonwealth University before transferring to Holy Family University, a Division II program in Philadelphia. He was a three-year starter with the Tigers and notched a conference-leading six shutouts during his junior season. Following his senior season in 2015, he signed a professional contract with the American Soccer League’s Philadelphia Fury.
 
Ongaro wore many hats in his first season as an assistant coach at Northwestern Ohio. He planned and implemented daily goalkeeper training, executed training sessions focusing on defensive shape, recruited domestic and international players, and was involved in scouting and overseeing study hall for all student-athletes. In his one year with the Racers, they tied the NAIA shutout record of 20 on their way to the national title. He coached the WAC Defensive Player of the Year, NAIA national tournament defensive player and First Team All-American center back.
 
A resident of Columbus, New Jersey, Ongaro has been a club soccer coach in Bordentown since 2013, worked as an Atlantic Soccer Factory Coach in Washington Township from 2013-16 and currently coaches with the South Jersey Elite Barons. He has a USSF “E” coaching license and is a USSF Grade 8 referee.