Jay Martin, men’s soccer coach at Ohio Wesleyan University, has been named the recipient of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Honor Award. The announcement was made at the Association’s Awards Banquet on Friday, Jan. 12, in conjunction with the 2007 NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind.

Martin is the 67th recipient of the award, which has been presented annually since 1942.

In his 30 years as coach of the Battling Bishops, Martin has led his teams to seven NCAA semifinals, a pair of runner-up finishes and the 1998 national championship. In the 16 years that the NCAA tournament has been staged in a regional format, his OWU teams have won 10 regional titles. With a career record of 515-99-41, he is only the seventh college coach to reach 500 career wins, and he achieved the milestone faster than any other men’s coach. With a winning percentage of .815, his teams were the most successful in NCAA men’s play during the decade of the 1980s regardless of level of competition. He earned NSCAA National Coach of the Year honors in 1991 and 1998.

In addition to coaching soccer, Martin also served as the chair of the Department of Physical Education for 17 years and as athletics director for 19 years. During his tenure, he established the athletic booster club, expanded opportunities for women’s coaches won six North Coast Athletic Conference Trophies and hosted more than 50 NCAA events, including finals in golf, men’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s tennis. The school was among the Top 25 teams in the NACDA Directors Cup standings in six of his final eight years as athletics director. He also coached lacrosse for eight years, posting a 104-34 record with six NCAA tournament bids and two national coach of the year awards.

As much as the sport and the NSCAA have given him, he has returned. Martin spent six years on the NCAA Division III Selection Committee, including four as its chairman. The NSCAA president in 1996, he accepted the editorship of the Association’s magazine, Soccer Journal, in 2003, becoming only the third person to hold the title in the 51-year history of the publication.

As a professor of physical education, he has taught every course offered at OWU and became the first from outside the liberal arts curriculum to be awarded the Shankland Award, presented to the outstanding teacher at Ohio Wesleyan.

A native of Hingham, Mass., Martin was a three-sport standout and president of Phi Epsilon Kappa honorary fraternity at Springfield College, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1971. He also holds a master’s degree and doctorate, both earned from Ohio State University.

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