Mark Gavin is the Apex Soccer Academy Director of Coaching and current Director of Coaching at Norwalk Soccer Club. Coach Gavin has over 15 years of experience coaching competitive soccer in Colorado and Iowa 6U through 19U age groups. While coaching high school soccer he helped Aurora Central in Colorado to its first-ever conference title and 3 straight state playoff berths. Coach Gavin holds the U.S. Youth Soccer National Youth License as well as the U.S. Soccer National D license. In addition, Mark earned the National Diploma and the National Goalkeeping (Level 3) Diploma from United Soccer Coaches.  He also completed the Coerver Youth Diploma course in 2014.  Mark grew up in Indianola and played for Indianola Soccer Tribe and Indianola High School and continued to play into his early thirties in adult leagues in Colorado. 

In addition to his DOC role, Coach Gavin will oversee the Boys Select Program 11U-19U and the Boys 9U-10U Academy.

 Jeremy Cordes  started coaching with Apex over 3 years ago. He has spent time coaching the 9U-10U Academy age groups, as well as 14U girls, 14U boys and the head coach of the 18U boys teams. He has completed the U.S. Soccer 9v9 and 11v11 grassroots coaching courses. Coach Cordes completed his U.S. Soccer “D” License in March of 2021. This course is over 36 hours of classroom and field sessions with additional coursework.  He has been playing since he was 6 years old, and continues to play in an adult league today as the captain of his team. He is an active member of the soccer community - spending time refereeing, coaching, playing, and as an executive board member of the Central Iowa Coed Soccer League. Apex appreciates Jeremy's versatility and experience with multiple age groups and passion for soccer from youth through adult age groups. 

Coach Cordes will be the age group director for 18U and 16U boys.

Shelley Heckert has several years experience coaching the 11U and 12U girls. Coach Heckert has also coached the 9U-10U Academy program for many years.  Coach Heckert has been coaching ages 6U-14U since 2012. She recently completed the U.S. Soccer “D” License in March of 2021. She played soccer in her youth and for Indianola High School. Shelley earned her degree in Health and Human Performance at Iowa State University. She is a certified fitness instructor for a variety of classes including Barre, body pump, PiYo, TRX and many more. In her spare she enjoys watching her 3 kids play soccer and volunteers as a youth group leader for middle school and high school kids in Indianola. 

Coach Heckert will be a staff coach for the 11U-12U girls age group.  

 Dennis May has coached for Apex for over 5 years.  Dennis served as Technical Director for the Indianola Soccer Tribe (IST) prior to joining Apex a few years ago. He was responsible for creating curriculum for coaches and leading training sessions for all age groups U6-U19. Prior to his Technical Director role, Coach May was a head coach for 5 years for teams ranging from U10-U14. At Apex, Coach May has worked with 9U-10U Academy players and 11U and 12U boys. Coach May has the U.S. Soccer National D License, the United Soccer Coaches' Director of Coaching Diploma and is a licensed U.S. Soccer Referee.  He played soccer from a young age through his late twenties.

Coach May is currently coaching the Academy Boys 9U-10U Group. 

 Dani Marquez has been a staff coach on the Apex 11U/12U girls team and also assisted with the 17U girls team. Dani was born and raised in Colorado and coached an 11U boys team during her time there. She played for Bear Creek High School and was named second team all-state and earned several academic awards as well. Dani went on to play at Simpson College and served as the Storm captain for 2 years. She was a four-year letter winner and earned Honorable Mention All-Conference for 2 years. Dani is bilingual in Spanish, her parents were born in Mexico and moved to Colorado before she was born and grew up around the culture. She has 3 brothers. Dani currently attends Drake University and is pursuing a doctorate degree in Occupational therapy. Soccer is her passion and she is excited to be coaching our Apex girls!

Coach Marquez will be coaching the 13U-15U girls age group.

Miki Schmidt has been a staff coach on the Apex 13U/14U girls team and has also helped with the 17U girls and the 11U/12U girls in past seasons. 

Miki has been playing soccer most of her life. Miki played at Norwalk High School. She was team captain for two years and earned Honorable Mention all-state, and first team all-district honors.  She went on to Simpson College to play for the Women’s team. During her time at Simpson she helped coach the summer soccer camps for high school players. She graduated in 2020 with a Double major in Accounting and Business Management with a minor in coaching.  Miki  is currently attending Drake University for her MBA while working full time at Farm Bureau as an auto adjuster. She is working on courses at Farm Bureau for her associates degree in general insurance. Miki is also a certified yoga instructor. In her spare time she loves spending time with her one and half year old puppy.  Miki looks forward to sharing her knowledge of the game and impacting our Apex players!

Coach Schmidt will be coaching the 13U-15U girls age group.

Katlyn Schochenmaier is the Goalkeeper Coach for Apex Soccer Academy and has been a staff coach for 14U and 18U girls teams. During college, Katlyn taught private goalkeeper sessions to middle and high school-aged girls as well as assisting during UNO's college prep camps. 

Katlyn grew up playing in the Norwalk Soccer Club. In high school, Katlyn played on the Norwalk varsity soccer team for 2 seasons. Katlyn also was a goalkeeper for Iowa Rush's regional team throughout high school and played on the Iowa ODP team. Katlyn played Division I soccer at the University of Nebraska Omaha where she played for 3 years. Katlyn recently finished her doctorate degree in occupational therapy from the University of South Dakota and is very excited to settle back in the Des Moines area. 

Coach Schochenmaier will work with our goalkeepers from 11U-19U and will be a staff coach for 14U girls and 18U girls teams this fall.

Sam Steenhoek has coached for Apex for a few years with a variety of age groups including 11U-19U. Sam was the head coach of the Apex 16UB in the fall of 2020 and as staff coach for 13UB team that competed in the President's Cup in the Spring of 2021.  Coach Steenhoek completed his U.S. Soccer “D” License in March of 2021. This course is over 36 hours of classroom and field sessions with additional coursework. Sam’s patient demeanor and high level understanding of the game have a tremendous impact on all players he coaches. For the 2021-2022 season Sam will serve as Age Group Director for 13U-15U boys. As a player, Sam played at a high select level playing for top clubs in the metro area and competing with the Iowa ODP team in regional and national competitions.  As a member of the Norwalk High School team, Sam owns several NHS records. Sam was a starter for the 2014 State Championship team, as well as a State Finalist team in 2012, third place team in 2015, and State Qualifying team in 2013.

Coach Steenhoek is the 13U-15U Age Group Director and Head Coach.

Heath Weeks has over 17 years of coaching experience, 16 years as a varsity head coach. He has coached high school soccer in Hobbs (NM), Johnston (IA) and now serves as the head coach for Indianola High School. He has also been involved with club soccer in Iowa and has coached several age groups at JUSC, WDMSC, and Sporting Iowa and has his National Coaching License through the United Soccer Coaches organization.  

Heath grew up playing soccer in Okinawa, Japan before finishing his HS career in New Mexico and winning a state championship with Hobbs HS. After HS, he played for four years at Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL) and was a four year participant in the NCAA D3 National Tournament and a two-year captain for the Thunder. Wheaton College finished with a final national ranking of #5 his senior year.

Coach Weeks will be leading the 12U-11U Boys Age Group this fall for Apex Soccer Academy.