Veteran mentor Clive Charles, who has led the University of Portland to the national championship game six times before breaking through this season claimed the women’s honor, while UCLA’s Tom Fitzgerald, in his first year at the Bruins helm, won the men’s award. The honors were announced at the NSCAA Awards Banquet, held in conjunction with the 2003 NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, Mo.

Highlighting the winners in the other competitive divisions was Mike Giuliano, coach of the NAIA women’s national champion, Westmont College. It marked the third time Giuliano has won the award in the last four years. Joining seven other coaches who have won at least three national Coach of the Year honors, Giuliano has achieved the feat faster than any other. In men’s junior college Division I, Mike Pantalione of Yavapai College also claimed his third award.

The complete list of winners, with information on their 2002 season, follows.

NCAA Division I Men: Tom Fitzgerald, UCLA
In his first year as head coach at UCLA, Fitzgerald became only the third coach in history to claim NCAA national championships in both Division I and Division II. Returning to the college ranks after a stint as head coach of Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, he led the Bruins to a record of 18-3-3 and their first Pac-10 Conference championship. A three-time NSCAA South Region Coach of the Year while at the University of Tampa, he earned his first national title in 1994, leading Tampa to a 15-2-1 record. You could say his team was a model of consistency: it faced Stanford three times, including the NCAA championship game. Each time, the Bruins won by a score of 1-0, with all three winning goals coming either late in the match or in overtime.

NCAA Division I Women: Clive Charles, University of Portland
After being so close for so long, Charles and the Portland Pilots finally won their first national championship this year. After a slow start that found them with two losses to open the season, Charles righted the ship and sent his team on a string of 13 games without a loss. Overcoming a loss and a tie in the last two games of the regular season, Portland went on a roll in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 13 goals and shutting out the opponents in the first five games of the tournament. In the championship game, the Pilots faced the team that had last defeated them, Santa Clara, in the last match of their home season. In a hard-fought affair that extended into overtime, sophomore Christine Sinclair notched home the game-winner to touch off the celebration of Portland’s long-awaited championship.

NCAA Division II Men: Marcus Ziemer Sonoma State College
This year proved to be a breakout one for Ziemer. In his 11 previous years as coach at Sonoma State, he hadn’t seen his season victory total surpass 18, and that was in his first season. In 2002, he hit the 20-win mark in grand fashion, claiming the NCAA Division II national championship. His 160 career wins ranks him among the top 20 among all-time Division II coaches. A Sonoma State graduate, this marks the first time he has earned NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year honors.

NCAA Division II Women: Don Klosterman, University of Nebraska-Omaha
Klosterman has guided a meteoric rise for the Nebraska-Omaha program, taking it to the NCAA championship game in only its fourth season of competition. The No. 2 team in the final NSCAA/adidas national ranking, his Maverick team closed out the 2002 season with a 22-1-0 record, the only blemish coming in a 2-1 loss to Christian Brothers in the championship match. In four years at the UNO helm, he has built a remarkable 68-16 record.

NCAA Division III Men: Dave Brandt Messiah College
In his sixth season at Messiah, Brandt guided his team to its third consecutive NCAA Division III championship game and second title in three years. On the way to a 23-2-1 mark and the No. 1 ranking in the NSCAA/adidas national poll, Brandt’s team tied an NCAA record with 18 shutouts. A four-time NSCAA/adidas Regional Coach of the Year, Brandt also won national honors in 2000.

NCAA Division III Women: Bob Barnes, Ohio Wesleyan University
In 2002, Barnes led his team to an unblemished 24-0 record and its second consecutive NCAA Division III title to claim his second consecutive national Coach of the Year award. His team played stifling defense, recording 20 shutouts in the 24 victories, while extending their unbeaten streak to 45 games. In seven seasons at Ohio Wesleyan, he has fashioned a record of 110 wins, 17 losses and one tie while winning the last four North Coast Athletic Conference titles and the last three Great Lakes regional championships.

NAIA Men: Peter Fuller, University of Mobile
Fuller is the only coach to garner NAIA National Coach of the Year honors at two different institutions; first in 1992 with Belhaven College and now twice at the University of Mobile after his previous honor in 1999. With a season record of 16-4-1, he led his team to the national title, just as he did 10 years before at Belhaven. He now holds a career record of 241-72-20 and is certain to see the list of former athletes now playing professionally to grow from its current total of 35.

NAIA Women: Mike Giuliano, Westmont College
Winning national championships is turning into a habit for Giuliano. His team has claimed the NAIA women’s title three of the last four years, including the last two. Each time his team has earned the championship, Giuliano has earned NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year honors. With this year’s selection, he joins only seven other coaches in NSCAA history to win three or more National Coach of the Year honors. The others on the list are some of the greats in the game today: Jerry Yeagley, Ray Reid, Anson Dorrance, Brian McManus, Aliceann Wilbur, Michael Russo and Mike Pantalione. None have done it in so short a time. This season Giuliano’s team was 20-1-3 despite a schedule that was loaded with nationally-ranked NAIA teams, as well as opponents from all three NCAA levels of competition. His 172 wins in 10 seasons makes him Westmont’s all-time career wins leader.

NCCAA Division I Men: Steve Burke, Judson College
Since taking the reigns of Judson's men's soccer program in 1984, Burke has led the Eagles to five NCCAA National Championships (1991, 1992, 1995, 1997 and 2002), 11 NCCAA District/Regional Championships, nine Conference Championships and an NAIA District, Regional and Area Championship. In the 29-year history of the NCCAA Tournament, Judson is the only team to win the title five times. The Eagles have appeared in the NCCAA National Tournament 12 times in Burke's 19-year stint, including nine consecutive appearances from 1991-1999. He has 343 career victories, ranking him third all-time in NAIA play.

NCCAA Division II Men: Josh Beers, Northland Baptist Bible College
Beers led his Northland Baptist Bible College team to its third national championship in his four years as coach and the program’s fifth title in six years. The Pioneers posted a record of 18-4, boosting Beers’ career mark at Northland Baptist to 56-21-2. Beers is a 1994 graduate of Northland Baptist, he was a two-time All-America in soccer and helped the team to the 1993 national championship. He also was an honorable mention All-America in basketball for the Pioneers.

NCCAA Women: Marty Ziesemer, Western Baptist College
In his seventh season directing Western's women's soccer program, Ziesemer guided his team to the championship game of the NCCAA Tournament, where his Warriors fell to Malone in overtime to end the season with a record of 19-7-1. It marked the third consecutive year that Western has been the NCCAA runner-up. Under his direction, Western Baptist has advanced to the NAIA regional tournament in three of the last four seasons and have fallen just short of cracking the NAIA top 25. Although this is the first time the NSCAA has recognized an NCCAA National Coach of the Year, Ziesemer previously won the honor in 2000.

Junior College Division I Men: Mike Pantalione, Yavapai College
This year Pantalione won his fourth NJCAA national championship, ending the season with a record of 22-2-1 and the No. 1 ranking in the final NSCAA/adidas national poll. The Roughriders never slipped below No. 7 in the nation this year. In the 14 years since he started the school’s program, he has built a record of 301 wins, 22 losses and nine ties and has taken this team to the national semifinals 12 times, advancing to the championship game nine times. Mike also was NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1997 and received the NISOA National Merit Honor Award in 1995. He is one of only eight coaches to win NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year honors three or more times.

Junior College Division III Men: Sean Worley, Richland College
Worley guided his team to a record of 20-2-0 this season on the way to the junior college Division III national title. Named Coach of the Tournament, he had four players selected to the All-Tournament team. In his seventh season at Richland, he has guided his team to the Region 5 championship each year and earned district runner-up honors three times. He also works with the Dallas Inter Soccer Club and is active in the North Texas ODP program.

Junior College Women: Dennis Grassini, Community College of Rhode Island
Grassini has won NSCAA/adidas Regional Coach of the Year honors three of the four years he as been head coach at CCRI. This year, he earned his first national award by leading his team to a 22-0 record, scoring 125 goals while allowing only 15. The Lady Knights ended the season tied with Long Beach City College for No. 1 in the final NSCAA/adidas national rankings.

High School Girls Private/Parochial: Maureen McVey, St. Joseph’s Academy, St. Louis, Mo.
McVey has been coaching St. Joseph’s Academy girl’s soccer team for 17 years. In that time she has compiled a record of 319-80-31. A five-time Missouri Coach of the Year, she has won NSCAA/adidas Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors five times, including four in the last five years. She also has been recognized as the National Federation High School Coach of the Year and Women’s Sports Foundation Coach of the Year. Last spring her team won its fourth Missouri state championship, ending the season with a record of 28-0-1 and the No. 1 spot in the final NSCAA/adidas spring national ranking.

High School Boys Division I: Brian Gibney, Shawnee High School, Medford, N.J.
Gibney’s team fell just short of claiming its second consecutive state championship this year, but the results of the season still were impressive. Entering the fall with a unbeaten string of 19 games, the Indians extended that streak to 42 before falling in the state championship game. Along the way, they recorded 21 consecutive wins, posted 12 shutouts and outscored their opponents 77-15 while scoring three or more goals in 15 games and allowing only two multiple-goal games to their opponents.

High School Boys Division II: Rob Wilcher, T.C. Roberson High School, Asheville, N.C.
Wilcher guided his Rams team to an unblemished 28-0 mark last fall, claiming the North Carolina Class 3-A state title and ending the season as the No. 1 team in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings. The Rams outscored their opponents this season by a margin of 170-15. After eight years as the coach at Roberson, Wilcher has built a record of 172-29-8. He has a career coaching record of 300-75-16 in 16 years as a high school coach.

High School Boys Private/Parochial: Mike Davis, Catlin-Gable School, Portland, Ore.
This season Catlin-Gable High School won the first-ever Boys Oregon State Championship for 2A/1A Division schools. Competing against schools in the same division, Davis’s team posted a 15-0-0 record, scoring 105 goals and conceding only nine. Against larger 3-A division schools, his team was 1-1-1, scoring four goals and allowing four. The team was undefeated in 10 conference games, outscoring opponents 84-5. Davis was named conference co-coach of the year Oregon 2A/1A coach of the year.

High School Girls Division I: Frank Dixon, Carmel High School, Carmel, Ind.
Dixon has been the girls coach at Carmel for 12 years. In that time he has compiled a record of 250-6-14, becoming the winningest soccer coach in Indiana history. A seven-time Indiana Coach of the Year, he has led his teams to eight state championship matches, winning the title seven times. He coached the 2000 NSCAA/adidas High School Girls National Player of the Year in Jamie Fabrizio. This fall, the Greyhounds were undefeated in 25 matches, winning their third consecutive state championship. They held the No. 1 spot in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings from wire to wire, and also won a NSCAA Team Academic Award. Dixon is active in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association, Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association and he serves as a region chairman for two NSCAA committees.

High School Girls Division II: Jack L. Pickard, Westminster School, Atlanta, Ga.
Pickard has been coaching The Westminster School girls soccer team for 22 years. In that time he has compiled a record of 276-68-11, establishing him as the winningest girls’ soccer coach in Georgia history. Last spring his team posted a 20-2-2 record and finished ninth in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings. With 14 regional titles and five state championships to his credit, Pickard’s teams also have won NSCAA/adidas Team Academic Awards and an NSCAA/adidas All-America selection. He also is involved in his community, working with Soccer in the Streets to help promote the sport among inner-city youth. He also hosts a tournament that has raised more than $2,000 for Habitat for Humanity.

Youth Boys: Chris Apple, Rochester, N.Y.
The coach of the Rochester Jr. Rhinos of the USL’s Super-Y League, Apple put together a boys U-15 team that proved to be unstoppable. His boys brought home championships from the Jefferson Cup and the Delco Cup. They represented Region I in the 2002 Snickers US Youth Soccer National Championships and outscored their opponents 11-5 on the way to a 4-0 mark and the U-15 national crown. Apple also serves as the men’s coach at his alma mater, the University of Rochester, where he guided his team to a record of 14-4-2 last fall. In six years as a college coach, he has a career record of 46-36-6.

Youth Girls: Howie Thompson, Durham, N.C.
A two-time NSCAA/adidas South Region Coach of the Year, Thompson serves as the administrative director of the Strikers Soccer Club and coaches its ’88 Elite girls team. He also is the girls coach at Wakefield Middle School in Raleigh and the boys and girls coach at Southern High School in Durham. Recipient of the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association Sportsmanship Award in 2001, he has been an NSCAA member since 1995 and referees youth and high school matches.