About Us/Membership | Women's Soccer News | Opportunities for Coaches of Women | Award of Excellence| Annual Convention | Mentoring Program
Our Mission
 The NSCAA Women's Committee exists to educate, professionally develop and serve as an advocate and resource for the women's soccer community. The Women's Committee will recognize current and past contributors of women's soccer and offer services and programs. The Women's Committee will identify, support and promote women, and coaches of women, into leadership positions. Photo: Sandy Williamson, Kay Baker, Marti Coan, April Heinrichs and Allison Pronske at the 2008 Social for Coaches of Female Athletes.
About the Women's Committee
History
The Women's Committee was established in 1991 to be a powerful voice in the NSCAA, to promote the women's game and to represent all levels of women in coaching - from youth to the national level. The committee is dedicated to all coaches of women's soccer through recognition, education, leadership, communication and cooperation with other organizations.
Today, the Women's Committee operates as part of the NSCAA Diversity Committee alongside the Black Soccer Coaches Committee, the Latin American Soccer Coaches Committee and a pilot Native American Soccer Coaches Committee. The Women's Committee boasts a growing membership and sees turnout at the annual open meeting increase every year. We seek to retain legitimacy, credibility and consistency within the NSCAA and are seeking representation at all levels of the women's game. All youth, high school, college and professional coaches of women are welcome to join our membership at large.
At-Large Members Welcome
At-large membership is open to all coaches of women regardless of gender, age and/or experience. Members are generally placed into action-oriented sub-groups including coaching, media, convention support and the mentoring program. If you are interested in becoming a member or know of someone who would benefit from membership in the women's committee, contact Amanda Vandervort at vandervort@nscaa.com. Provide your name, address, city, state, zipcode, and an accurate and up to date email address that you’d like us to use. Please consider your personal expertise and indicate which of the sub-groups listed above you would like to be involved with.
Current members of the Women's Committee include Sue Ryan (Chair), Paul Payne (Executive Liason, Vice President for Education), Allison Pronske (Staff Liaison, Education Administrator), Louise Waxler, Colleen Hacker, April Heinrichs, Charlotte Moran, Kathy Zolad, Janet Rayfield, Lauren Gregg, Marti Coan, Marcia McDermott, Vicki Sanford, Amanda Vandervort, Jen Plante, Tara Koleski and Lisa Cole.
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Women's Soccer News
Women's Professional Soccer Unveils Name, Plans at NSCAA Convention
By Paul Kennedy, Soccer America
 January 18, 2008 - After more than three years of work on the startup, a new women's pro league moved one step closer to reality with Thursday's announcement that it will be called Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). Photo: Christine Brennan, leading USA Today columnist, leads a panel discussion about the Women's Professional Soccer League at the 2008 NSCAA Convention in Baltimore.
"Today's a day for celebration," said Tanya Antonucci, the WPS commissioner who has overseen the project since being talked into it at a gathering of Stanford soccer alumni (she played for the Cardinals in the mid-1980s) shortly after she left Yahoo!, where she served as general manager of its World Cup partnership with FIFA.
Without teams (until last year), coaches or general managers (in most cases) and players (still to assembled after the Olympics), it's been hard for Antonucci to sell the new league, which will begin play in April 2009, but that job got easier Thursday with the unveiling of its new logo, showcasing a silhouette of Mia Hamm, and its website, www.womensprosoccer.com. WPS is also visible this weekend at the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, where it will hold a Town Hall meeting on Saturday moderated by USA Today columnist Christine Brennan (Baltimore Convention Center, Room 338).
TEAMS. The league previously announced plans for franchises in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. Still to be determined is the home for an eighth team. WPS's preference is that team be based on the West Coast, with San Diego, San Jose, Vancouver and the San Francisco Bay Area among the possibilities. Coaches have been hired in Boston (Tony DiCicco) and Washington (Jim Gabarra). Executives on board include Boston Breakers General Manager Joe Cummings, who is serving as senior consulting chief operating officer, and Chicago President and CEO Peter Wilt, who is WPS Marketing Committee Chairman. Both are former MLS executives. WPS's Los Angeles team is owned by AEG, owner of MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy. Each team in an MLS markets is expected to have strategic partnership with the MLS club in that market, whether that's a stadium deal to share revenues or an arms-length agreement.
BUDGETS. Projected team budgets range from $1.9 million to $2.8 million, depending on the market and revenue opportunities. The league hopes to conclude an agreement with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team Players' Association so national team stars (preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games) can begin work on promoting the league soon.
PLAYERS. No draft or allocation of players is expected to take place until the Beijing Olympics end in August. Antonucci acknowledged that managing expectations for the new women's league hasn't been easy -- particularly in light of the spectacular collapse of the WUSA in 2003, on the eve of the Women's World Cup. With no dominant foreign league able to sway international women's stars -- the strongest league is Sweden's Damallsvenskan -- WPS will be attractive to many foreign players. Before re-signing with Swedish club Umea for 2008, Brazilian superstar Marta was rumored to be interested in signing with Los Angeles. A maximum of 25 percent of the players on a WPS team can be foreigners, according to U.S. Soccer Division I women's soccer guidelines. No decision has yet been made on minimum and maximum salaries.
Joe Cummings Speaks at NSCAA Women's Soccer Breakfast
Joe Cummings is one of the most respected executives in soccer in the United States, having served as Venue Director of Operations for the 1996 Olympics, the Director of Operations for the 1999 Women's World Cup in Foxboro, and as Venue Manager in 2003, for the Boston and Philadelphia venues for the Women's World Cup. He is President and General Manager of the Boston Breakers, positions he also held from 2000 to 2003. He was honored as Executive of the Year in 2002 and 2003. He is also a consultant for the new women's league, serving in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer. He has also been Assistant General Manager and Technical Director for the New England Revolution, from 1996-1999 and 2004-2005. He is a past-president of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Cummings coached at Algonquin Regional High School in Northboro, Massachusetts from 1976-82 where he was honored as New England High School Coach of the Year and a finalist for National High School Coach of the Year and also coached at College of the Holy Cross from 1982-84. He has directed and/or coached for four youth clubs, New England Soccer School, Soccer Scene, Sutton Fuller Hamlets and the Northboro Youth Soccer Association, which he founded in 1978 and served as their first president. He has been inducted into the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Hall of Fame, the New England Soccer Hall of Fame and the Algonquin Regional High School Hall of Fame.
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Opportunities for Coaches of Women
NSCAA Women's Study Trip to Holland
 October 29 - November 5, 2007
National Academy Staff members Theresa Echtermeyer and Nora Maguire-White traveled to Holland to study the KNVB's female soccer program. A list of what the studied follows. Photo: Theresa Echtermeyer presents the findings of the Women's Study Trip at the 2008 NSCAA National Academy Staff Training.
KNVB Standard of Coaching Education and expected standard/style of play is respected nationwide.
Devotion of KNVB, coaches, and Dutch Nationals to give back to the game.
KNVB unbelieveably organized structurally and vested in the greater good of the sport.
Educated coaches feel obligated to give back to the game in a variety of ways. Education is a priviledge.
Dedicated to girls training and developing successfully with the boys.
Dedicated to training women coaches and feel strongly that quality women coaches are best suited to coach women.
Coaches train teams and develop players in an attacking, aggressive style of play nationwide.
For more information about this trip, or for a copy of the powerpoint presentation, please contact Amanda Vandervort at vandervort@nscaa.com, and your request will be forwarded to Nora Maguire-White.
Women's Soccer DVD Available
Attacking Soccer in the Women's Game: Skills, Decisions and Mindset. This 2-disc DVD features instruction by the NSCAA staff coaches on the topic of developing the attacking mentality of today's female player.
Disc 1 -- Provides attacking players with a technical and tactical foundation and also helps to create a confident and assertive mentality.
Disc 2 -- Offers a variety of functional and tactical training exercises that create an environment where players can acquire the decision- making ability to be collectively and individually dangerous attacking players.
To order, visit the Soccer Learning Systems page under the Member Resources section of NSCAA.com and follow the link to their web site. back to top
Women's Committee Award of Excellence
Charotte Moran Receives Award of Excellence
The NSCAA Women's Committee is proud to announce that Charlotte Moran, Executive Director of Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association (EPYSA), has been selected by the NSCAA Women’s Committee as the ninth recipient of its Award of Excellence. Photo: Charlotte Moran receives 2007 Award of Excellence. Pictured from left - Lula Bauer, Charlotte Moran and Louise Waxler.
Moran has been one of the most active organizers for girls' and women's soccer in America. She has over 30 years of experience in soccer management, from her start as a team mom in 1977, through roles at regional and national levels. She has served at various times as a club secretary, league secretary, league vice president, state vice president and state president. Moran has been a state administrator for ODP for 20 years, was Chairperson for the National Girls’ ODP from 1991-1995, and acted as the Chair of the US Soccer Women’s Committee from 1990-1991. She currently works as the Executive Director for the EPYSA and is the the Administrator for the Region 1 Olympic Development Program.
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 - April Heinrichs, U.S. Women’s National Team
2000 - Michelle Akers, U.S. Women’s National Team, FIFA Female Player of the Century
2001 - Lauren Gregg, WUSA Vice President of Player Personnel and Technical Director
2002 - Michelle Morgan, Amherst College
2003 - Adele Dolansky, Washington Area Girls Soccer League
2004 - Colleen Hacker, Pacific Lutheran University
2005 - Lynn Berling-Manuel, CEO and Publisher of Soccer America
2006 - Anson Dorrance, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
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Mentoring Program
The NSCAA women’s mentoring program was launched in 2003 to help women become better coaches, to develop female coaches as leaders and to help prepare women for leadership positions. For more information, or for an application, please contact Jen Plante' at jen_plante12@yahoo.com. To see our blog, please visit http://nscaamentor.blogspot.com. Photo: One of many tables at the 2008 Women's Soccer Breakfast, where experienced coaches and younger coaches could talk together in an informal setting.
What is a mentor?
A mentor affects the professional life of a protégé by fostering insight, identifying needed knowledge and expanding growth opportunities. Traditionally, the mentoring relationship consists of an experienced coach providing guidance and advice to someone with less experience.
Why become a mentor?
Mentoring gives you the extraordinary opportunity to facilitate a colleague’s personal and professional growth by sharing knowledge you have learned through years of experience. While the primary intent of your mentoring role is to challenge your mentee to think in new and different ways, mentoring allows you to strengthen your coaching and leadership skills by working with individuals from different backgrounds and with different personality types, garner a fresh perspective on your own performance and create a legacy that has a lasting impact on your protégé.
Benefits for mentees
Having a supportive relationship with an experienced, understanding person can make a huge difference in your life. Being a mentee can raise your level of achievement through networking, building self-confidence, helping you find inspiration, learning new skills and aspiring to achieve goals you may have previously thought were unreachable. There are more than 100 coaches currently involved in the NSCAA women’s mentoring program. The coaching levels range from youth, high school and club through the collegiate ranks.
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