Tony DiCicco, the Coach of the Boston Breakers and former U.S. National Team Coach, is the 2008 recipient of the NSCAA Women’s Committee Award of Excellence.

Tony DiCicco (center), the 2008 Women's Committee Award of Excellence winner, joins NSCAA Women's Professional Representative Amanda Vandervort (left) and Lula Bauer (right) at the Women's Soccer Breakfast in St. Louis, Mo.

For six years DiCicco was the coach of the U.S. Women's National Team, accumulating a stellar record of 103-8-8, making him the all-time wins leader in U.S. National Team history.

He led the U.S. team to the first-ever gold medal in women's soccer at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. DiCicco aslo guided the U.S. squad to the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup title, defeating China on penalty kicks in the final in front of 90,185 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. He also guided the U.S. team to a third-place finish at the second Women's World Cup in Sweden in June of 1995 and a gold medal at the 1998 Goodwill Games.

Before becoming USWNT coach, DiCicco served as the squad's assistant coach since 1991, working with the goalkeepers during the USA's triumph at the first FIFA Women's World Cup in China in 1991.

A 1970 graduate of Springfield College in Massachusetts, he played five years of professional soccer in the American Soccer League with the Connecticut Wildcats and Rhode Island Oceaneers, where he was team MVP and captain. In 1973, DiCicco toured and played for the U.S. National Team.

The director of the NSCAA Goalkeeping Institute, DiCicco has conducted both U.S. Soccer and NSCAA national licensing camps.

He recently started SoccerPlus Education Center, a non-profit company that provides seminars for youg student athletes. Seminars range from "Life Skills...balancing a checkbook, managing a credit card, establishing credit" to "Adolescent Development...an Emphasis on Teen Depression" to "Leadership and Sustaining Excellence."

The award is sponsored by the Washington Area Girls Soccer League (WAGS) and was established in 1999 to recognize those who have brought honor and distinction to women's soccer. WAGS has supplied sponsorship funds from this award to be used in the promotion of the women's game through various inner-city programs. Funds also will be donated to charities that promote female soccer participation.

Past NSCAA Women's Committee Award of Excellence Recipients
1999-2000 - April Heinrichs, U.S. Women’s National Team
2000-2001 - Michelle Akers, U.S. Women’s National Team, FIFA Female Player of the Century
2001-2002 - Lauren Gregg, WUSA Vice President of Player Personnel and Technical Director
2002-2003 - Michelle Morgan, Amherst College
2003-2004 - Adele Dolansky, Washington Area Girls Soccer League
2004-2005 - Colleen Hacker, Pacific Lutheran University
2005-2006 - Lynn Berling-Manuel, CEO and Publisher of Soccer America
2006-2007 - Anson Dorrance, University of North Carolina Women's Coach
2007-2008 - Charlotte Moran, Executive Director, Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association

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