London’s Tristan Bevan comes to BES with experience working in-session alongside Premier League players and under Crystal Palace coach Mathias Agbeto. Agbeto speaks highly of the two-time NCAA captain’s play, calling him an even better leader. “Tristan is an absolute beast who leads by example,” Agbeto notes. “He’s always the hardest working and is never one to give in. Working with him has been a dream, and I cannot wait to see what he does at Become Elite Soccer. You’re lucky to have him.”
Tristan, who holds a Master’s in Sports Communication, was voted a captain three times: at Emerson College, at Bard College and on his high school team, which he led to a National ‘ISFA’ title in the UK. With coaching experience dating back to 2016 and as a recruited NCAA athlete, Tristan is well-suited to share his passion for merit-based, passionate play with the BES family. “I’m a big, big believer in kind of outworking your competition.” Tristan explains. “I feel that if you’re willing to put in the extra hours, it will show on the field when it comes to a game, or when it comes to a drill that involves 1v1. I would say that’s very important to me. It’s kind of, how hard do you want it, really?”
Named Player of the Year multiple times at the UK’s Bradfield College, Tristan was recruited to play at Bard while looking to America in search of a well-rounded education. A longtime winger, he converted to outside-back in college. The transition has informed his coaching philosophies, as he found ways to make the transition while maintaining the mindset of a player driven to create chances. “I’m still an outside back today for the most part, but I use my fitness and things like that to get up and down. So I’m able to do both my offensive and defensive roles to the best of my abilities, and that’s more so just from my work rate off the field and being able to stay fit-as fit as possible, and you know, constantly trying to get in as many touches as possible as well.”
As a coach, Tristan has led clubs and private lessons. He stresses the importance of providing context for young players when introducing a new concept, or explaining tactics for different positions. “My experience is that kids are very cautious when it comes to doing things unless they fully know why they’re doing them.” He gives inter-positional influences in the modern game as one example. “You need to be able to defend from the front. If you’re a striker, you needto be able to tackle. You need to know how to press properly, and that’s something you would learn starting as a center back.”
The lifelong Chelsea fan’s indefatigable work ethic extends beyond the sideline. You’ll also see him running the club’s social media in his role as Digital Marketing and Social Media Manager. His master’s capstone project discussed Major League Soccer’s marketing, considering a post-Messi era.
Tristan applauds the BES framework of inclusiveness in terms of combating the pay-to-play model. “I remember Zlatan Ibrahimović was even talking about how ridiculously expensive kids soccer is in the States,” Tristan recalled. “If someone like him is shedding light on that, you know it’s a real issue. I feel like it really is gatekeeping a lot of soccer from players who probably would need a sport as an outlet to kind of just get through the day…And that’s where BES comes in.”
Coach Tristan can be reached at tbevan@becomeelitesoccer.com.
Written by Holly Galvin BES Writer and Consultant.
