Oliver Twelvetrees has had incredible success as the head coach of the Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) men’s soccer team.
He has been with the team since he was hired to run the program in April 2020 and is the fourth coach in the team’s program history. Twelvetrees comes to CSU Pueblo as a native of Swansea, which is in Wales, U.K.
Along with more than 20 years of coaching experience across various levels such as at the NCAA Div. I level, the NCAA Div. II level, the junior college level and the club level, he also has won multiple conference, regional and district championships; collected multiple coach of the year honors at the regional/district level; and this season he was named the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Coach of the Year.
CSU Pueblo has qualified for the RMAC Tournament every year since he took over the program and has made a deep run in the NCAA playoffs the past four out of the five seasons he has been at the helm.
“One of the reasons that I chose coaching specifically was because of my love/passion for the game. Another reason is, as a coach, I really enjoy watching my players develop their skills and reach their full potential both on/off the field, as this is something that I have always prided myself on as a coach.
“I was really excited about the opportunity of building a new program like CSU Pueblo because I wanted to challenge and push myself as someone who can continue to be so dominant at such a high level consistently,” said Twelvetrees.
When asked about what he expects from his players on and off the field of play, he said:
“As a coach, I believe that it is important for all of my players to be treated with respect, have a voice and be active participants in the environment/culture that we are trying to build (as a team). I want my players to be involved in all of the discussions that have to do with how our program should be run. That way it is easier for them to buy into what I’m trying to do as a coach (develop that winning mentality as a team).
“In good teams, coaches discipline players. And in great teams, players discipline players. As a coach, I believe that it’s important to have those leaders on the team that the younger players can look up to, along with having your back as a coach,” said Twelvetrees.
Has he been able to transfer past successes to CSU Pueblo?
“I think the reason I was so successful at those other levels was because of the fact that I was responsible for everything, such as recruiting players, the athletic training side of things and making sure the field of play was acceptable to play on, which in turn think it pushed me to work harder as a coach because I didn’t have the support staff that I normally would at the Div. I and Div. II level.
“Whereas, when I first came to CSU Pueblo, I think the reason that I was able to be so successful right off the bat was because of the fact that I was able to have the support staff that I needed as a coach readily available to me, such as really good athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches and a hands-on athletic director,” said Twelvetrees.
The CSU Pueblo men’s soccer team has thrived under Twelvetrees. He has guided the program to numerous titles/accomplishments. These include, winning back-to-back RMAC titles; making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament the past four out of the five seasons; and winning the 2024 RMAC regular season title for the first time since the 1999 season.
However, the team has also had to overcome some heartbreaking losses/disappointments as well.
“As a coach, I think losing the RMAC Tournament Championship game in 2021 to top-seeded Colorado Mesa was definitely a learning experience that the team had to learn from because prior to this game, they didn’t have much postseason experience. Whereas, losing the championship game to Colorado Mines the next season was even more disappointing because as a team we felt we had played pretty well in the game. But it wasn’t enough, as in the end we ended up losing in heartbreaking fashion: 9-8 on penalties.
“Another disappointment our guys (the team) had to overcome was losing the NCAA National Championship title game to the same team twice in a row to Franklin Pierce. This was definitely a tough pill for our team to swallow because we felt that we had missed a shot at bringing a NCAA National Championship back to Pueblo, as you don’t get many opportunities like this one, especially making it to the title game two years in a row,” said Twelvetrees.
This has been another historic season in the books for the ThunderWolves as they claimed their second consecutive NCAA Tournament Regional Title with a victory over their RMAC rival Fort Lewis. The No. 4-seeded CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves will play their next game vs. the No. 1-seeded University of Charleston Golden Eagles on Dec. 12 for a shot at the championship game on Dec. 14 in Matthews, N.C., at Matthews Sportsplex.
