Derek Valego recently completed his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Merrimack College men's soccer team. He is a former assistant coach of the Western Mass. Lady Pioneers of the USL-W League and for the past several years has coached various youth club teams in western Massachusetts and the greater Boston area for the Western Mass. Junior Pioneers and VFC Blast.

A 2005 graduate and a four-year starter for Merrimack from 2001-04, Valego led the Warriors to a top-25 national ranking in each of his four seasons. Following college, Derek played professionally for the Western Mass. Pioneers of the United Soccer League, leading the Pioneers to a regular season title and national runner-up finish in 2005. He has also spent time playing in the USL-PDL for the now defunct Worcester Kings and Rhode Island Stingrays. As a youth player, Derek played on two Massachusetts State Cup Championship teams with FC Greater Boston and his U-18 team also advanced to the Region 1 Semifinals. He was a top player in the state of Massachusetts and was a recurring member of the Mass State ODP team.

A native of Chicopee, Mass., Valego currently resides in Medway, Mass. He works at Sovereign Bank/Banco Santander in Boston on the Service Quality team as a Client Relations Project Analyst.