10 minute read
Head Coach Kevin Sherry
a ticket to the league KEVIN tournament. There were plenty SHERRY of other memorable moments in 2014 as well, including the team’s first ever appearance in the HEAD COACH C-USA Tournament where they advanced to the semifinals for the first time in program history, upsetting the No. 3 Kevin Sherry enters his 14th season as the women’s soccer head coach at Louisiana Tech (20th overall in college coaching). After more than a decade at the helm, he continues to lead the program to new heights that can be directly linked to four pillars -- Service, Passion, Respect and Fearless. The past six years in the very strong league that is Conference USA, the Lady Techsters have predominately been picked preseason to finish in the bottom half of the league and outside of tournament qualification. And in each of those six years, the team has been fearless in proving all of the voters wrong as they have finished at or higher than they were picked in the preseason poll while also qualifying for the conference tournament each season (one of only three C-USA teams to do so). Sherry’s 19th year of coaching may have very well been his most challenging. Not only did the team have 19 newcomers, but they also were forced to play 13 road matches and six other “home” matches at two different facilities due to the tornado that destroyed the Lady Techster Soccer Complex on April 25. Nevertheless, the team still produced a 13-4-3 record, marking the fourth straight year with 13+ wins. LA Tech went unbeaten in the first 10 matches of the season while breaking a program record with seven straight road wins. The marquee victory of the year was beating C-USA regular season champion Florida Atlantic. As a result, Sherry earned LSWA Louisiana Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in his career. Late-game heroics was the main theme for the 2018 season, playing seven overtime matches with four of them ending in victories and the other three ending in draws. The heroics lasted all the way to the C-USA Tournament, coming back from 2-0 down to defeat Old Dominion in OT and advance to the semifinals for the third time in program history, ultimately finishing with a 13-5-3 overall record and a 5-3-2 league mark. The Lady Techsters were dominant at home yet again, going 9-1 which included a program-record nine straight wins at home. One of the road victories was a special one for Sherry as he picked up career win No. 200 at Graceland which is where he began his coaching career in the United States. In 2017, the team registered a 14-3-5 overall record, the three total losses being the fewest in program history. Eight of those victories came on the road, tying a program record. They also won eight consecutive home games, tying another program record. The 14 wins tied for the second most in school history. The team ended up going 6-1-3 in C-USA play for a record total of 21 points earned and a fourth place finish in the league, advancing to the C-USA Tournament semifinals with a comefrom-behind win over Old Dominion. In 2016, LA Tech also won six conference games to finish fifth and qualify for the league tournament for a third straight year. The team ended the season with a 14-6-1 record, helping Sherry earn the Louisiana Coach of the Year award. One of those 14 wins was more special than the others for Sherry. That was the 2-1 road win over Nicholls State on Sept. 11 which marked career victory No. 100 at LA Tech. Another win that was extra special came the previous year in the 2015 regular season finale versus North Texas who had already clinched the conference title. The Lady Techsters ended up pulling off an upset for the ages with a shutout victory over the Mean Green to punch seed UTEP on penalty kicks. Sherry was named the Louisiana Coach of the Year that season as well, leading the Lady Techsters to a 13-6-3 record. These firsts were a culmination of the hard work and determination which carried over from year one in C-USA, a season which produced a solid 9-10-1 record and four league victories despite having a roster of 18 freshmen. The underdog story was mostly the same in 2012 in what was the final year in the Western Athletic Conference with LA Tech being picked dead last in the preseason. The Lady Techsters responded with a 12-5-4 overall record, including an 11-game unbeaten streak and a 1-1 tie with No. 19-ranked Denver, to finish in fourth in the league while setting records by allowing only 15 goals and recording 12 shutouts along the way. For that year as well, Sherry was named Coach of the Year for the state of Louisiana. Of course the passion has not only been seen on the pitch, but in the classroom as well. Since the native of Grantham, England arrived in Ruston, LA Tech has consistently been recognized for its excellence in education as they were awarded the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Adidas Team Academic Award for 12 consecutive school years. The award recognizes teams that have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or better. Most recently, the team had 30 student- athletes that were recognized by being named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll during the 2017-18 academic year, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. Of those student-athletes, 10 also received the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal which is given to those who achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or better. Since joining C-USA, 33 Lady Techsters have earned a total of 57 Academic Medals. One of those players was Kathryn Sloan who was named the 2016 CoSIDA Academic AllAmerica of the Year for Division I Women’s Soccer, becoming the first ever student-athlete at Louisiana Tech to earn this honor. The third pillar -- respect -- has been acknowledged through their sportsmanship as the team has been awarded several times with the NSCAA Ethics/Sportsmanship Award. The award recognizes teams with less than five yellow cards throughout the season. The biggest impact of the program most often comes from the fourth pillar - Service. Community service has been demonstrated year-round in Sherry’s 10+ years as head coach. At the fifth annual Techspys, the soccer team took home the SAAC award (third time) for the team that best represents the commitment to promoting a positive image in the community. In 2010, Sherry’s Lady Techsters finished with a record of 15-6 overall, a school record for most wins in a single season, and a thirdplace finish in the WAC. That same year, LA Tech qualified for the WAC Tournament for the first time in the program’s young history with the event held at the Lady Techster Soccer Complex. In 2009, after winning their first 11 games, Sherry led Tech to a 12-7-1 record, including the program’s first-ever league win. Tech scored the most goals (54), assists (45) and points (153) ever in a single season. In 2008, the Techsters were recognized for their significant improvement from their 2007 campaign when they went 2-14-1. Sherry and Co. posted a 10-5-5 record, an eight game improvement that the NCAA recognized along with three other schools, as one of the most improved teams in the nation. Shortly after the conclusion of the 2008
season, Sherry was selected to serve as U.S. Youth Olympic Development coach. Sherry was given the responsibility of coaching the Louisiana U-16 team and was also selected to instruct a coaching clinic for all high school coaches in the state of Louisiana.
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In his 13 years at LA Tech, he has coached 12 players who were selected All-Conference, three of which also earned Louisiana Player of the Year honors. The most recent is Autumn Woodard who made an immediate impact as a transfer in 2019, breaking single-season program records for most points (39) and most goals (17).
Sherry spent 2005 and 2006 as head coach at Western Illinois. He inherited a program that was 24-111-7 over its history, having never experienced a winning season. Between the two seasons, he compiled a 20-13-4 record, and the program was recognized as one of the NCAA’s most improved.
He led Western Illinois to its first MidContinent Championship finals in 2006. Even though the Westerwinds lost the conference championship, they finished with an 11-7-1 record. Their 11 wins were the most victories in a season in school history.
Sherry turned around another losing program as head women’s soccer coach at Graceland University. Prior to his arrival, the Yellowjackets never had a winning season in its history. That changed as well. He coached Graceland to records of 12-7-1 and 16-2-3 before he led the team to an 18-0-5 record in his final season. Their success equated to the school’s first undefeated season, the school’s first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Championship, an appearance in the NAIA Final Four and its highest national ranking of seventh by the NSCAA.
For Sherry’s efforts, he was named HAAC Coach of the Year, NSCAA Central Region NAIA Women’s Coach of the Year and Region V Coach of the Year.
While being head coach at Graceland, Sherry also served as head coach of the Des Moines Menace U-15 Boys Super Y League and worked with the Iowa Olympic Development program.
Sherry has international coaching experience as well as he was the head men’s soccer coach at Nagoya Gakuin University and the Aichi F.C. Nagoya junior youth head coach in Japan prior to his four-year stint at Graceland. He also worked as the director of soccer coaching and player youth development for the Al Nahda national schools organization in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 1992-93.
Most recently, he served as the lead assistant coach for the Guyana Women’s National Team “The Lady Jaguars” as part of the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship qualification.
Sherry got his first-ever head coaching job at Burlington Danes High School in London in 1987. During his five years at the institution, the school won the West London Area Cup at every age level and also won the prestigious London Championship two straight years. One of his former players, Danny Dichio, formerly played for the MLS club Toronto FC from 2007-09. Sherry also headed the West London Schools F.A. select teams from 1989-92. He served as the head coach for the U-16 select team from 1991-92 and the U-15 select team from 1989- 90.
As a student-athlete, Sherry played for the West London Institute of Higher Education and won the British National College Championship in 1987. He was selected to play for the FISEC Great Britain U-18 team and went on to play for Bangor City in the United Kingdom and Morning Star in Hong Kong.
Sherry earned degrees in physical education/sports science and sociology from Bangor University in Wales, along with his master’s from Leicester University in England. He possesses the United States Soccer Federation’s “A” license and the U.E.F.A. “International” coaching license from England.
SHERRY COACHING EXPERIENCE
2001-04
GRACELAND HEAD COACH
2007- 2005-06
WESTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH
LOUISIANA TECH HEAD COACH
COACH SHERRY YEAR-BY-YEAR
Year School
2019 Louisiana Tech 2018 Louisiana Tech 2017 Louisiana Tech 2016 Louisiana Tech 2015 Louisiana Tech 2014 Louisiana Tech 2013 Louisiana Tech 2012 Louisiana Tech 2011 Louisiana Tech 2010 Louisiana Tech 2009 Louisiana Tech 2008 Louisiana Tech 2007 Louisiana Tech 2006 Western Illinois 2005 Western Illinois 2004 Graceland 2003 Graceland 2002 Graceland 2001 Graceland
Total
*Now the Summit League
W
220 L
4 5 3 6 8 6 10 5 8 6 7 5 14 7 6 0 2 7 7
116 T
3 3 5 1 1 3 1 4 4 0 1 5 1 1 3 5 3 1 1
46 Postseason
C-USA Tournament - First Round C-USA Tournament -- Semifinals C-USA Tournament -- Semifinals C-USA Tournament -- First Round C-USA Tournament -- First Round C-USA Tournament -- Semifinals - WAC Tournament -- First Round - WAC Tournament – First Round - - - *Mid-Continent Tournament -- Championship Game *Mid-Continent Tournament – Semifinals HAAC Championship, NAIA Final Four - - -
