FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Aidan Rahill, the most recent addition to the Fairfield University men's soccer coaching staff, didn't have very far to go when he wanted to knock the ball around with his siblings. Just outside his door were a series of small soccer pitches for five-on-five games that his parents created adjacent to the family farm in Ireland.

            "I played football all of my life, Rahill recalled. "My parents wanted us to get into the sport. They had this business idea where they built astroturf fields right beside our house and rented them out. I was about one year old when they built those fields so it's always been part of my life."

            As he grew older, Rahill was able to work his way into some of those five-on-five games, many times playing against some significantly older men.

            "We rented out the fields to all ages from young lads to 50 year olds," Rahill said. "At times, I was like nine years old playing against guys that were sometimes five times my age. And they were not afraid to body me up and use their physical size against me. Eventually I got smart enough to not let them near me by playing quicker."

            That quickness may have been due in part to his physical structure but his work on the chicken farm may have also contributed to his agility on the pitch.

            "At night, the chickens would head back into the coop so we didn't have to herd them," Rahill said. "But there were always a few young chickens that wouldn't go back. If you saw the movie Creed when he tries to catch the chicken, that's no joke. It is seriously hard to catch a chicken."

            The daytime proved to be a little less stressful on the farm as the daily tasks had less chance of being chaotic.

            "The day started around 6 am with loading up the feed for the day after which we would pick up as many as 500 eggs," Rahill said. "There is a lot of effort that goes into separating the extra large eggs from the large and medium sizes. Once we sorted the eggs, we had to stamp each egg to verify they were free range. After stamping, we loaded the eggs to send out."

            Rahill is the middle child in a brood of five that included two older siblings Chris and Laura as well as two younger brothers Donal and Kirk. Aidan and his two younger brothers would eventually leave Ireland to come to the United States to study and play soccer. Donal attends Coastal Carolina while Kirk is enrolled at Kings University as student-athletes.

            Aidan was the first of the siblings to come to America for college. He made his way to Missouri Valley College where he played four seasons as a center back. He earned a pair of berths to the NAIA Scholar Athlete team on his way to earning a B.S. degree in Business Administration and Management.  In his final year at Missouri Valley, he helped the team capture a national championship during spring of the 2020-21 season.

            "I graduated the week before the national tournament so that was the perfect way to end my college career," Rahill said.

            Rahill would eventually find his way back to the collegiate game as an assistant coach, beginning with a season at Coastal Bend College in Beeville, Texas. There, he worked under Head Coach Adam Butler who indoctrinated him into the world of coaching.

            "My first year at Coastal Bend was really tough," Rahill said. "Coach Butler was not soft on me. His philosophy was if you are going to do it you are going to do it right which meant being consistent now until whenever you stop. He set the tone perfectly for me as my first boss. It was a difficult transition for me that year because at times I thought this may not be for me. The grey hairs that I have on my head now are from that first year."

            Part of that transition from playing to coaching was finding a way to bypass that approach to the game as player and become more acclimated to approaching the game as a coach.

            "The training sessions were not coming as naturally to me as a coach during that first month," Rahill said. "It was a make or break moment for me but I pushed through it because I love to coach. In the end, it made me so much better. I learned how detailed sessions should be like when to get your coaching points in, when to just let them play, and when they should be resting while keeping within the session plan."

            Rahill became the interim coach when Butler left to take a position at Eastern Florida State College. It would not be the last time that he was thrust into that role as he eventually served in the same capacity as his next stop.

            "I went to Manhattanville College after one season at Coastal Bend," Rahill said. "I worked with Coach Paul Templeton who was a head coach for several seasons after being an assistant so he had 10 good years of experience. He was more of a thinker and had a different approach that I had experienced in the past so it was another good learning experience."

            Templeton also left the program midyear for a position with Major League Soccer. Rahill was on staff so once again he became an interim coach. During that time, Fairfield came knocking on his door and sought him to join the Stags' staff for the upcoming season.

            "I've had a good track record of choosing coaches and programs," Rahill said. "When I saw the chance to come to Fairfield, I took it. (Head Coach) Carl (Rees) has 30 years of coaching experience so I can learn so much from him. He's been through all the cycles as a coach so I am looking forward to coaching with him and learning from him."

            Rahill has aspirations to one day become a professional coach quite possibly in the United States.

            "I think the best way to grow a coaching career is in the US because there are so many opportunities between all the teams at all the levels," Rahill said. "The game is growing so fast here that I see plenty of opportunities. As I continue in my career, I am willing to go anywhere I can challenge myself as well as grow and learn as a coach."

            Whether it be coaching professionally, competing against men as a young boy or catching a wayward chicken, Aidan Rahill has always been ready to conquer any challenge in front of him.