The Northwestern State soccer program has hired Samantha Parker as an assistant coach, announced head coach George Van Linder on Thursday.

Parker has two seasons of Division I assistant coaching experience at Austin Peay State before being involved with the nationally ranked Southern Methodist program this past spring.

Parker’s hire is subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, which includes Northwestern State.

“We’re excited that Samantha is coming from such a good program as SMU,” Van Linder said. “She has a great background at other Division I programs as well, and we’re excited about her experience as a goal keeper coach.

“We know that she’ll build on our tradition of having top quality goal keepers and help them to continue to grow.”

At SMU, Parker proved invaluable as a summer camp organizer while also assisting in recruiting, practice and game-day operations as a volunteer assistant.

As an assistant coach at Austin Peay for two seasons starting in 2015, Parker aided the Governors to 18 victories.

APSU reached the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship in 2016, falling in penalty kicks as the Governors nearly received the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Parker got her coaching start as an assistant at Division III University of the Ozarks (Ark.) in 2014.

The Forney, Texas, native earned her bachelor’s at North Texas and master’s at Ohio University, where she served as the coaching education club president.

“Being from the Dallas area, she has a lot of ties in recruiting,” Van Linder said of Parker, who was also involved in coaching travel and club teams in Tennessee. “She knows a lot of people from our recruiting areas, people that know her and know our program.”

Parker has a level three certification in goalkeeping from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.