Goshen Soccer Academy’s newly renovated indoor facility is great for Mounsithiraj to work with area youth year-round.

Thavisak (Tavi) Mounsithiraj ’88 has dedicated his career to supporting youth soccer in Goshen, Ind. For nearly 30 years, Mounsithiraj has been involved with the Goshen Youth Soccer Organization (GYSO) in roles spanning from volunteer to the current executive director of the program. Born and raised in Laos, Mounsithiraj never would have guessed that he would end up where he is today. 

An unexpected journey

At the end of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese regime invaded Laos resulting in thousands of natives including the Mounsithiraj family evacuating their homeland in search of safety.

“I was only twelve years old when my parents decided that we needed to leave Laos,” remembers Mounsithiraj. “I wasn’t told why we were leaving, just that our lives were in danger.”

One of his last memories of his home country is walking down the bank of the Mekong River with his family guarded by two armed soldiers as they fled. After a year in a refugee camp in Thailand, Mounsithiraj’s family was sponsored by Locust Grove Mennonite Church in Burr Oak, Mich., to come to the United States in 1980. 

Finding passion amid the unknown

Living in a country very different from his own, Mounsithiraj found comfort in church and soccer. Though his high school didn’t have a soccer team, he still spent time on the pitch playing pickup games with his siblings and competing in the summer league in Kalamazoo, Mich. The summer following graduation, he heard about Hesston College for the first time. 

“My buddy asked me one day if I wanted to come with him to Hesston to play soccer,” recalls Mounsithiraj. “All I heard was ‘soccer’ and I was in.”

Mounsithiraj attended Hesston for one year and played for Coach Gerry Sieber ’64 in the fall of 1986. Sieber was the one to give Mounsithiraj his nickname, Tavi, and it has stuck with him ever since. 

Mounsithiraj took a few years off from his education to gain work experience before landing at Goshen College where he played for Dwain Hartzler. Mounsithiraj played three years for the Maple Leafs while earning an interdisciplinary degree in physical education, art education and religion. 

The path revealed

During Mounsithiraj’s time at Goshen College, Coach Hartzler introduced him to GYSO, which Hartzler founded around 1985. In the off season, Mounsithiraj began helping out with the youth league.

When his playing career ended, Mounsithiraj became an assistant coach for his former team and upon Hartzler’s retirement in 2001, Mounsithiraj was named head coach at Goshen and inherited the executive director position for GYSO. For Mounsithiraj, soccer had become more than just a game or a career, it was a mission field.

“It is important to demonstrate to [athletes] at a young age that battling adversity and meshing as a team are important aspects not just in soccer, but in their future careers,” Mounsithiraj explains. “I like to remind my players that we represent a Christ-centered organization and we should show love to everyone, even when we don’t like them. The love of Christ is present on the soccer field. When a player falls down and one of their opponents offers to help them up, that gives me goosebumps.”
 
In nearly three decades with GYSO, Mounsithiraj has seen his athletes grow and flourish on and off the pitch. Some of the athletes he worked with at GYSO played for him at Goshen College, too. Looking at a photo of one of his senior classes from Goshen, Mounsithiraj reflected on a coach’s true measure of success. 

“This player went on to become a doctor and another is now a teacher,” he smiles. “I even had the opportunity to coach a young athlete who ended up winning a national championship at Indiana University and was a third-
round pick in the Major League Soccer draft. That is amazing to me.”

Promoting positive change in the community

After a successful career, Mounsithiraj left Goshen College following the 2013 season, finishing second all-time in career wins at Goshen behind Hartzler. He retained his position with the GYSO and devoted his attention to serving the youth of Elkhart County in Indiana. In 2020, Mounsithiraj co-founded the Goshen Soccer Academy (GSA) with one of his former players. GSA’s newly renovated indoor facility is primarily used for futsal, a small-sided version of soccer played indoors, but can be adapted for racquetball, pickleball, basketball or volleyball. They focus on catering to the underserved community in Elkhart County and strive to create a space for area youth to be active and have fun year-round. 

“We have no idea what kind of home lives some of these kids have,” says Mounsithiraj. “Parents know that when they bring their kids here, they will be safe and they will be laughing and smiling the whole time. It is important to support your community in whatever way you can.”