Stone Named Assistant Men's Soccer Coach

March 2, 2008

Stone is not a stranger to Rhode Island soccer as he served as Assistant Coach and Director of Coaching for Rams Football Club this past fall. He came to URI in 2007 from the Grantham Indoor Soccer Center in Grantham, N.H where he served as Director of Operations. Prior to his time in New Hampshire, Stone was the head men's soccer coach at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. from 1997-2000.

He began his collegiate coaching career with O'Connor in 1997, when he served as an intern assistant men's soccer coach at the University of Chicago, where O'Connor was the team's head coach.

"Mitch has fit right into the URI squad from the first day he stepped on campus," explained O'Connor. "The players trust him implicitly - not only for his knowledge but also for the way in which he deals with each individual player."

Stone is a veteran of numerous summer soccer camps across the country, including those at Dartmouth College, the University of Notre Dame and the Rhode Island Elite Soccer Academy. He directed his own Lawrence University Soccer Camp and co-directed Shooting Start Soccer Camp (Appleton, Wisc.) in 1998. From 1994-1997, he was the site director for the Upper Valley Youth Lightning Community Camps in Hanover, N.H.

A 1997 graduate of Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H., Stone received his Bachelor's degree in Sports Management and went on to earn his MBA from Franklin Pierce in 2002.

A native of Orono, Maine, Stone was a starting goalkeeper on the 1993 URI men's soccer team before transferring to Colby-Sawyer. There, he was voted the Commonwealth Coast Conference Male Athlete of the Year and was recognized as the CCC's Player of the Year in 1995. He was a First Team All-Conference selection in 1995 and 1996 and earned the Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 1996.

Stone's career also includes time with the New Hampshire Phantoms of the USL, as he was the only Division III player selected for the New Hampshire Under 23 Olympic Development Program team - which included players from Dartmouth, Franklin-Pierce and Keene State College.

"I have known Mitch since he was just a kid during my playing days at the University of Maine," added O'Connor. "He has grown literally and figuratively into a seasoned professional coach and has a great eye for players. He brings a wealth of experience and passion for the game which will do nothing short of benefit our players and the program".

Stone currently resides in Narragansett, R.I. and has three children, Kaleb (16), Jack (9) and Millie (6).