Atlanta United 2 today announced it has finalized its technical staff for the upcoming season under head coach Stephen Glass. Henry Apaloo will join as assistant coach and Ricardo Oliveira will serve as the team’s fitness coach.
“I’m pleased to add Henry and Ricardo to our staff,” Glass said. “While both of them bring quality coaching and playing experience, they also align properly with the club’s philosophy and will be a great resource for all of our players.”
Apaloo comes from University of South Florida where he spent the last two years as assistant coach of the men’s soccer team. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast University and Barry University. Apaloo holds a Football Association (FA) Level 2 Coaching Badge, an NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, an NSCAA Level 1 Goalkeeping Certificate and a USSF C License.
At FGCU, Apaloo helped the Eagles reach top-25 status in 2016 and reach the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history. With Barry, Apaloo helped guide the program to two NCAA Tournament appearances (2009, 2013), producing nine all-region players and five All-Americans. Following a highly decorated playing career at Barry where he was a four-year letter winner from 2004-08, Apaloo served as a graduate assistant coach for the team from 2008-2010 before being promoted to assistant coach.
Apaloo is a native of Blackburn, England and came up through the Premier League Academy League with spells at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers. He spent two years with Preston North End FC, and also played for the England National Futsal Team in the summer of 2008.
Oliveira joins from Georgia State where he was an assistant for the men’s soccer team and was responsible for sports performance and acted as goalkeeper coach. Oliveira was a strength and conditioning intern at the University of Kentucky in early 2015, working with men’s soccer, baseball, men’s and women’s swimming, cross country and track and field. He was also a staff coach for the Olympic Development Program in North Carolina from 2014-16.
Oliveira was an assistant men’s soccer coach at Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina where he also played collegiately. Oliveira played for the Atlanta Silverbacks in the National Premier Soccer League in 2017 and 2018. He is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English.
ATL UTD 2 kicks off its second season in its new home of Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia on March 9 against USL Championship expansion team Hartford Athletic at 7:30 p.m. EST.
