An entirely new coaching staff brings about a set of questions regarding the direction a team can go, and most of those are directed toward the head coach.

For the ISU soccer team’s first year assistant coach Ben Madsen the journey and adjustments to coaching at the collegiate level is a roller coaster ride.

Madsen began his career, like many other college coaches, as a player at the collegiate level. He was a three-year starter for Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., as the team’s goalkeeper.

Success came with the position for him as he ended his career as the Railsplitters’ all-time leader in saves, with 334. In 2001, his performance in the net garnered him second team All-Gulf South Conference honors.

After his time as a player was up, Madsen stepped into the coaching aspect to further his love of the game.

“It’s been quite the climb up the ladder,” Madsen said. “I started at a junior college [Lincoln College-Ill.] working with men, then went to a Division II [University of Alabama-Hunstville] on the men’s side again.”

Madsen moved up the ladder toward coaching at the NCAA Division I level quickly, but his route took him from the men’s game to the women’s after his first two jobs.

“These last four years I have been at South Alabama coaching the women’s team, and now I’m here. It’s just the next step up the rung for me,” he said.

While at South Alabama, Madsen helped lead the Jaguars to three Sun Belt Conference Tournament appearances and in the 2004 season coached goalkeeper Amber Angermeier to a spot on the All-Sun Belt First Team.

Coach Wendy Dillinger said Madsen was highly recommended by many Division I coaches in a press release back in June.

Coming to Iowa State to join an entirely new coaching staff for the start of the 2008 season took a lot of patience and getting used to for Madsen.

“The last four years I’ve been working with the same two people, so you kind of get accustomed to that,” he said.

Madsen was the final coach to be added to the new staff after Dillinger and associate coach Tim Bennett were hired, and says the transition has been good.

“Now I’m at that new stage again where I’m learning from both Wendy and Tim,” Madsen said. “At first it was that feeling-out stage, but now I really feel like we’re starting to gel together and be on the same page.”

“It was an adjustment, and I don’t think it’s ever going to be easy because you all kind of have to feel your way in. And I was the last one to get in here, so that part was a little bit of an adjustment, but I feel like it’s all starting to come together. The three of us are on the same page and we’ve got the same vision.”

Madsen and the other two coaches have constantly been looking at that vision for the ISU soccer program, and there is no beating around the bush when talking about where they want this program to go.

“Our vision is to be able to compete for a Big 12 Championship, get to the NCAA Tournament, and try to develop the players we’ve got,” he said.

Being an assistant coach is no easy task either. The head coaches of most teams get the spotlight and glory, but behind the scenes, a different atmosphere besides just coaching the women on the team takes place for the assistants.

“[Bennett and I] do scouting reports and Tim does a lot of the traveling stuff. We’ve been taking care of getting the paper work done for these official visits, and it’s quite a lot of paper work,” Madsen said. “We have 10 recruits coming in next week and there is just a bunch of extra things to do. It goes unnoticed, but it’s part of the job.”

Both Madsen and Bennett spend so much time working with the soccer program, that at times, Madsen said he cannot wait until he has time off. Adjusting to the new staff, coaching the team, and doing outside work for the program takes its toll on the staff after a while.

“It’s really more than just a job that involves the soccer part of it, and because it’s all new it means you’re still trying to find your way. You know the time off is coming, but you don’t know exactly when it is,” Madsen said. “We’ve done something soccer related basically since the pre-season started. There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t been either in the office or on the field.”

Despite the workload, Madsen said he loves the game and would not trade it for anything.

Beside his coaching duties throughout his career thus far, moving around and settling into different communities and atmospheres brings about a whole new challenge for Madsen.

After spending his career in the south, relocating to the heartland of the country has been great for Madsen.

“I like it a lot so far [in Ames]. Coming from Mobile, Ala., and the big city, where there’s always something going on, there’s always that adjustment. The weather was actually the biggest adjustment, but this is kind of like the city I grew up in, minus the university.”

The hustle and bustle of the bigger city atmosphere can always make time orientation a top priority, but here in Ames, Madsen finds it much easier to get around and slow down each day.

“I kind of like the fact that I don’t have to leave 15 minutes early to get to someplace,” he said. “I can get to where I need to get without having to rush.”

This season, Madsen has had the privilege of working with the Cyclones’ all-time leader in shutouts and saves in goalkeeper Ann Gleason.

“It’s been great working with Ann and Ashley [Costanzo]. They both work hard and push each other in practice.”

With both Gleason and Costanzo back next season, Madsen will have the opportunity to continue the growth in both goalkeepers throughout 2008 and have it carry into next year.

“[Madsen] has really helped out this year,” Gleason said. “With [Costanzo and I], we have learned a lot and have been pushed hard to get better. It’s been great getting to work with him because of the knowledge and experience he brings.”

Whether it’s going to the soccer pitch each day for practice or filling out piles of paper work, Madsen has helped the new coaching staff start a new chapter in the program.