Wingate Earns NSCAA National Coaching Staff of the Year Honors

Kansas City, Mo.----The coaching staff of the national champion Wingate University Bulldogs has been named the National Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) as voted on by coaches in each NCAA division. The staff is led by head coach Gary Hamill, with assistant coaches Joey Calandra, Shaun Utterson and Shaun Gadsby. The nation's top-ranked team since mid-October, the Bulldogs finished the season 19-1.

"I am very pleased that our men's soccer staff has been recognized for the excellent job they did not only this year but for many past years," Wingate University Vice President and Director of Athletics Steve Poston says. "Coach Hamill and his staff have built a men's soccer program that has withstood the test of time. Our team represents themselves, their coaches and Wingate University in a first-class manner. The staff deserves this national recognition. We congratulate them for a job well done."

In his 25th year as the head men's soccer coach at Wingate University, Hamill led the Bulldogs to the first NCAA national title in school history. Hamill was named the SAC Coach of the Year for a league-record seventh time, leading Wingate to its third consecutive regular season conference title and fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in five years. The Bulldogs earned the NSCAA number one ranking for the first time in program history in mid-October and never relinquished the ranking. Wingate was the only team in NCAA men's soccer (Division I, II and III) to go through regular season play without a loss or a tie.

Hamill has a career record of 307-151-25, collecting his 300th career victory in Wingate's 1-0 win at Lenoir-Rhyne late in the season. He is the winningest coach in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer history, with over 90 more victories than any other coach in league history. The 2012 NSCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year has led Wingate to a pair of region titles over the past five years, leading the 'Dogs to 10 NCAA Tournament victories since 2012. Hamill has led the Bulldogs to 10 total conference championships in his 25-year career. He has had 18 players earn All-American honors during his career to go along with six Academic All-America honorees.

The Wingate coaching staff helped the Bulldogs lead the nation in winning percentage and goals-against average in 2016, finishing third in shutout percentage and 16th in scoring offense. Five different players earned All-American recognition, including first team NSCAA and D2CCA All-American defender Alex Nelson (Newcastle, England). Wingate also had two Academic All-District selections, with junior defender Damian Gaona (Santiago, Chile) earning third team All-American honors and third team Academic All-America accolades.

A league-record eight Bulldogs earned first team All-SAC honors, with seven players earning All-Region recognition. Hamill was also named the National Coach of the Year by Hero Sports. In addition to Nelson and Gaona, senior midfielder Aksel Juul (Newcastle, England), junior midfielder Callum Ross (Newcastle, England) and sophomore goalkeeper Pablo Jara (Santiago, Chile) earned All-American recognition.

Wingate's historic NCAA Tournament run saw the Bulldogs collect five consecutive shutouts, which included shutting out the nation's top two offenses. Wingate handed defending national champion Pfeiffer its first shutout since 2014 in the regional title match, while blanking Charleston, the nation's second-ranked offense, in the national title match. Wingate's tournament run started with a 3-0 win over Limestone, the nation's seventh-ranked offense. The Bulldogs allowed a nation's-low eight goals in 20 matches in 2016, compiling 12 shutouts while never allowing an opponent to score multiple goals in a game. 

This marks the fourth time Wingate has earned National Coach of the Year Recognition in the last five years. Kirk Sanocki was named the Men's Swimming National Coach of the Year by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) in 2012, while earning women's swimming National Coach of the Year accolades in 2016. Shelton Collier was named the 2013 National Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

The staff will be honored at the NSCAA Awards Banquet on January 13, 2017 at the JW Marriott Los Angeles in conjunction with the 2017 NSCAA Convention. The NSCAA National Staff of the Year awards are new for 2016 and replace the NSCAA Coach of the Year awards presented in previous years. This change was proposed by NSCAA member coaches across the three NCAA divisions and supported by a survey sent to NSCAA College Services members.

2016 NSCAA National Staffs of the Year
NCAA DI Men: University of Denver, led by head coach Jamie Franks
NCAA DI Women: Georgetown University, led by head coach Dave Nolan
NCAA DII Men: Wingate University, led by head coach Gary Hamill
NCAA DII Women: Western Washington University, led by head coach Travis Connell
NCAA DIII Men: Tufts University, led by head coach Josh Shapiro
NCAA DIII Women: Brandeis University, led by head coach Denise Dallamora