Fifth annual High School Coach of Significance Award winners announced

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – United Soccer Coaches, along with the association’s High School Coaches Advocacy Group announced the recipients of the fifth annual High School Coach of Significance Award.

The High School Coach of Significance Award recognizes members who are coaching for character and using the soccer field to teach life lessons at the high school level. It is an opportunity for each state, in conjunction with United Soccer Coaches, to recognize coaches who are making an impact within their schools and communities well beyond their records of wins and losses.

Recipients of the 2021 High School Coach of Significance Award are listed alphabetically by state:

State	Honoree	High School	City
Alabama	Jeremy Hampton	Tuscaloosa Academy	Tuscaloosa
Arizona	Andrew Barber	Highland	Gilbert
Arkansas	Michael Klucher	North Little Rock	North Little Rock
Colorado	Kevin Ray	Fountain Valley School	Colorado Springs
Connecticut	Paul Winstanley	Joel Barlow	Redding
Florida	Kevin Schoensee	Canterbury	Ft. Myers
Georgia	Daniel Klinect	Parkview	Lilburn
Idaho	Richard Whitelaw	Sun Valley Community	Sun Valley
Illinois	Michael Robey	Arthur Christian	Arthur
Indiana	Jerry Little	North Central	Indianapolis
Kansas	Kyle Conley	Louisburg	louisburg
Kentucky	Lisa Correa	Bowling Green	Bowling Green
Louisiana	John Carriere	Lafayette	Lafayette
Maine	Kurt Swanbeck	Hebron Academy	Hebron
Maryland	Jeff Colsh	Middletown	Middletown
Massachusetts	Evren Gunduz	Dover-Sherborn Regional	Dover
Michigan	Evan Baker	Waterford Mott	Westland
Minnesota	Reuben Ndely	Minneapolis Washburn	Minneapolis
Mississippi	Luke Smith	Clarkdale	Meridan
Missouri	Wade Vandelicht	Southern Boone	Ashland
Nebraska	Mike Ziola	Waverly	Waverly
New Hampshire	Peter Lally	Manchester Central	Manchester
New Jersey	Bill Mulvihill	Moorestown	Moorestown
New Mexico	Greg Rusk	Sue Cleveland	Rio Rancho
New York	Jesseca Kulesa	Hauppauge	Hauppauge
North Carolina	Jeffrey Dresser	Carmel Christian	Matthews
Ohio	Mahamoud Samantar	Northland	columbus
Pennsylvania	Michael Missmer	Northampton Area	Northampton
Tennessee	Gordon Heins	Knoxville Catholic	Knoxville
Texas	Kent Ackmann	Princeton	Princeton
Virginia	Robert O’Brien	Jamestown	Williamsburg
Wisconsin	JohnBurke	Foran	New Berlin
Wyoming	Rebecca Valdez	Cheyenne East	Cheyenne

The fifth annual class represents a total of 33 states. The goal is to annually recognize a recipient from all 50 states.

Each of the High School Coach of Significance Award nominees are reviewed by the selection committee comprised of national, regional, and state representation.