Coaches honored at the college, high school and youth levels

A pair of coaches whose teams broke through to the finals of the 2004 NCAA Division I championships headline the list of recipients of the NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year awards, presented Friday evening, Jan. 14, as part of the 2005 NSCAA Convention in Balitmore, Md.

Tim Vom Steeg of UC-Santa Barbara and Julie Shackford of Princeton University won Division I honors as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America recognized the outstanding coaches of the 2004 season for college, high school and youth play. Vom Steeg led his Gauchos into the championship game of the Men’s College Cup, where they extended defending champion Indiana University through overtime and into shots from the penalty mark before the Hoosiers prevailed. Shackford’s Tigers became the first Ivy League school to advance to the final four of a 64-team NCAA tournament, regardless of sport.

The NSCAA also launched a new Assistant Coach of the Year award, with selections at the college and high school levels. Mike Jacobs of Duke University was the collegiate winner, while Lisa Kent of Souhegan High School in New Hampshire was the high school recipient.

The complete list of NSCAA/adidas National Coaches of the Year follows.

NCAA Division I Men - Tim Vom Steeg, UC-Santa Barbara
Vom Steeg concluded his sixth season as head coach of his alma mater by guiding the Gauchos to the NCAA Division I championship game. Along the way he led UCSB to its third Big West Conference title, the No. 1 ranking in the NSCAA/adidas Division I poll a total of five weeks, its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and a record of 21-3-1, boosting his career record at UCSB to 87-33-7. Under his guidance UCSB has produced the Big West's Offensive Player of the Year the past four year.

NCAA Division I Women - Julie Shackford, Princeton University
Under Shackford's guidance, Princeton became the first Ivy League team to reach the Women’s College Cup and the first conference team regardless of sport to reach the semifinals of a 64-team NCAA tournament. With 19 wins against only three losses, her squad logged more victories in a season than any other Ivy League women's soccer team. Shackford reached the 100-win mark at Princeton in the second game of the season, becoming the fifth coach in league history - and first woman - to reach 100 wins at an Ivy school. She is also the second-fastest coach in league history to reach 100 wins. She concluded her 10th season at Princeton with a 117-52-10 record.

NCAA Division II Men - Peter Fewing, Seattle University
Fewing led his Redhawks to the NCAA Division II national title and an undefeated 22-0-1 record, boosting his career mark to 186-113-26 in 16 seasons. It was the second national title for Seattle’s men’s soccer team after winning the 1997 NAIA title. Fewing was also named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in four years after leading the Redhawks to their second consecutive GNAC title.

NCAA Division II Women - Danny Sanchez, Metro State College
In just his third season at Metro State, Sanchez has led the Roadrunners women's soccer program from the bottom of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to the Division II national championship. Along the way his team defeated No. 2 Regis University four times. Two of his players were named NSCAA/adidas All-America, and one was named the Division II Women’s Player of the Year. Under his tutelage, Metro State has compiled a 65-5-4 in three seasons, an outstanding .905 winning percentage.

NCAA Division III Men - David Brandt, Messiah College
Brandt led his Falcons to their third NCAA Division III championship in the past five years, compiling a 23-2 ledger. Messiah has earned an NCAA berth in each of the eight years Brandt has been at the helm, including five Regional titles, four Final Fours and a record of 158-19-10, good for an .872 winning percentage. This is the third time Brandt has earned National Coach of the Year honors, joining eight other coaches to achieve the distinction.

NCAA Division III Women - Pete Felske, Wheaton (Ill.) College
The only coach in the program's history, Felske led his Thunder to their first NCAA championship in his 17th season at the helm. With a 25-1 mark this season, he improved his career record to 232-78-16, a 736 winning percentage. Wheaton has won 10 consecutive College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) championships, and Felske has been named CCIW Coach of the Year seven times.

NAIA Men - Carl Hutter, Lindenwood University
Hutter guided his team to its first NAIA championship, fashioning a 19-3-1 record along they way. It was the fourth time in as many years that he has taken the Lions into the NAIA National Tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2001 and 2003. His career record now stands at 276-153-35, good for a .633 winning percentage in 22 seasons at Lindenwood.

NAIA Women - Drew Burwash, Lindsey Wilson College
Burwash topped a memorable first season at the helm of the Lindsey Wilson women's soccer program the only way he could, by winning the Blue Raiders’ first NAIA women’s national championship in his second year as head coach. Seeded No. 1 in the national tournament, his team survived two overtime matches that were decided by kicks from the mark to reach the championship match for only the second time in school history, downing Concordia of Oregon by a 2-0 margin. Lindsey Wilson ended the season with a an undefeated record of 19-0-6, improving Burwash’s career record to 44-2-6.

NCCAA Division I Men - Steve Burke, Judson College
Burke has been named NCCAA National Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his 21 years at the helm of the program. This season he led his team to a 23-1-1 record, with the lone loss coming in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament. He was also named Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and regional coach of the year for both the NCCAA and NAIA. He has a career record of 380-117-27, a .751 winning percentage.

NCCAA Division II Men - Dr. Rick Wright, Manhattan Christian College
In his 13th season as head coach of the Crusaders, Wright led his team to its fifth consecutive top-three finish at the NCCAA Tournament. He earned his 200th victory on the way to a 22-2 record in 2004, boosting his career mark to 214-53-6 (.795 winning percentage). He has led the men's program to 12 Midwest Christian College Conference regular season or tournament championships and seven consecutive NCCAA regional titles.

NCCAA Women - Patrick Gilliam, Trinity International University
Gilliam led his team to its second NCCAA national championship in the past six years, defeating rival Mount Vernon Nazarene in the championship game. The Trojans concluded the season with a record of 18-8 and placed second in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Junior College Division I Men - Marc Zagara, Georgia Perimeter College
Under Zagara, Georgia Perimeter ended the season with a loss in the NJCAA title game to finish with a 22-2-1 record. Despite a roster that included 17 freshmen, the team claimed its seventh state championship in the past 11 years and boosted Zagara’s record to 174-65-5 (.723 winning percentage) in his 13th season at the school.

Junior College Division III Men - Jose Vasquez, Santa Ana Community College
In his first season as head coach at Santa Ana, Vasquez led his squad to a 19-0-4 mark and the No. 1 spot in the final NSCAA/adidas Division III national poll. It marked the school’s sixth California Community Colleges state championship. The only team to go undefeated this season, Santa Ana logged its first undefeated season since 1999.

Junior College Division I Women - Tracey Britton, Monroe Community College
Britton led her team to the Division I national championship in 2004, its second under her direction and seventh overall. In six years as head coach, Britton has compiled a record of 116-7-8, an amazing .916 winning percentage. Her team has won six consecutive regional titles and advanced to the national championship game five times. This is her second national coach of the year award, having also received it in 2001.

Junior College Division III Women - Michael Murphy, Richland College
Murphy guided his Richland College team to the NJCAA Women’s Division III national championship, finishing the season with a record of 18-3 and the No. 2 spot in the final NSCAA/adidas national poll. Murphy is a veteran of 24 years of coaching and has compiled a career record of 50-21-7 at Richland.

High School Boys Division I - William Stara, River Hill High School (Md.)
For Bill Stara, state championships have become a way of life. In November, he guided his River Hill team to its sixth Maryland Class 3-A state title and the No. 8 spot in the NSCAA/adidas Region IV rankings. It marked the seventh time that Stara’s team has appeared in the state championship final in nine years that River Hill has existed. The 1994 NSCAA National Coach of the Year in the youth boys division, he is the first to claim national coach of the year honors in both the youth and high school categories.

High School Boys Division II - Tom Hill, Broomfield High School, Harvard, Mass.
Hill’s 27th season as a coach concluded with an unblemished 22-0 record and a ranking of No. 12 in the NSCAA/adidas Region I rankings. He was named the Central Massachusetts Coach of the Year and currently has a career record of 424-75-49, an .818 winning percentage.

High School Boys Private/Parochial - Lee Horton, Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, N.C.
Horton guided his Latin School team to a record of 21-1-2 this fall, earning a ranking of No. 5 in the NSCAA/adidas Region IV rankings and a listing among schools also receiving votes for the final national poll. The squad won the North Carolina state title as Horton earned North Carolina Private School Coach of the Year. He has built a career record of 331-118-35 in boys play and has amassed a total of 647 wins in high school competition.

High School Girls Division I - Jim Burnside, New Trier High School, Winnetka, Ill.
Burnside led his New Trier team to an unblemished 30-0-0 record and the No. 1 spot in the final spring NSCAA/adidas girls national poll. It marked the second consecutive year the team ended the season in the No. 1 spot, rolling to a 58-0-2 record in two seasons. In 2004 they allowed only three goals while posting a state record 28 shutouts and earning a second Class AA state title. Burnside now has a career record of 186-26-12, an .857 winning percentage.

High School Girls Division II - Claire Collins, Broad Run High School (Va.)
In her fifth year, she led her team to a 20-3-1 record and the Class AA state finals, earning state co-Coach of the Year honors. The Region 2 and Dulles District Coach of the Year, she also won the Washington Post’s All Metropolitan Coach of the Year Award. She has a career record of 58-25-5, a .688 winning percentage.

High School Girls Private/Parochial - Troy Tokarchik, Bishop Kelley High School, Tulsa, Okla.
Tokarchik guided his team to an 18-0-0 record and its sixth Oklahoma state championship, ending the season ranked ninth in the final NSCAA/adidas boys spring national poll. The 2003 Oklahoma Coach of the Year, he has earned NSCAA/adidas Regional Coach of the Year honors twice. In six years, he has compiled a career record of 90-3-0, a remarkable .968 winning percentage.

Competitive Youth Boys - James Carrick, New Hyde Park, N.Y.
The type of coach who strives to live by the axiom of "care, not coax; patience, not pressure, encouragement, not criticism," Carrick has played an active role in developing young players in the Long Island Junior Soccer League. He volunteers in six areas of his community and works hard to ensure that all of his players spend an equal amount of time on the field. Carrick is pursuing an LIJSL “A” license.

Competitive Youth Girls - Chuck Coan, Neenah, Wis.
Coan has been coaching girls youth teams for more than 20 years, in addition to coaching women's soccer at the college level at Lawrence University, Marian College and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He also has been involved in both the Wisconsin ODP program and the Wisconsin adult women's program. A true teacher of the game, he has had a dozen former players compete at the Division I level and currently has seven girls engaged in the college recruiting process.

Recreational Youth Boys - Blake Siewert, Sister Bay, Wis.
Siewert coaches the D.C. United club in Sister Bay, Wis. His team has placed in the top three in the Wisconsin state tournament each of the past five years, including first-place finishes in 2000 and 2002. His team received the Sportsmanship Award at the 2004 Niagra Tournament. He has a coaching record of 76-30-8.

Recreational Youth Girls - Larry Monaco, Montross, Va.
Monaco is a long-time contributor to soccer at all levels. He has served as an officer of the Virginia Youth Soccer Association for more than 20 years and currently serves as Vice President. Larry also has served in a variety of capacities for the U.S. Soccer Federation and US Youth soccer, including Parlimentarian, Appeals Committee Chair and vice president. Most recently he moved to southeastern Virginia, where he started the Soccer Club of Northern Neck. He served as President in its early years and now serves as Treasurer of the club. He continues to referee and also coaches girls and co-ed recreational teams.

College Assistant Coach of the Year - Mike Jacobs, Duke University
The Atlantic Region Assistant Coach Of The Year, Jacobs becomes the first NSCAA/adidas National Assistant Coach of the Year at the college level. In his third year at Duke, helped the Blue Devils to an appearance in the 2004 College Cup. Prior to Duke, Jacobs spent two years as a full-time assistant at the University of Evansville. In 1996, Jacobs began four years as head coach at Iona College, guiding the Gaels to their best three-year record in school history from 1997-99. At the age of 24, Jacobs was the youngest Division I head coach during his first season.

High School Assistant Coach of the Year - Lisa Kent, Souhegan High School (N.H.)
Kent becomes the first NSCAA/adidas National Assistant Coach of the Year at the high school level. As an assistant to coach Dwayne Andreasen, she has helped Souhegan High School to an enviable run of success in the past 12 years, including appearances in the New Hampshire Class I state championship game all 12 years and 10 state titles. Last fall Souhegan was ranked as high as third in the NSCAA/adidas Girls High School poll.

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