Center Circle my journey with the nscaa + united soccer coaches
DR. JAY MARTIN Member since 1977, Ohio Wesleyan | Soccer Coach Emeritus
5From the Editor is a recurring column in Soccer Journal.
In August of 1977 I was hired by Ohio Wesleyan University( OWU) to coach soccer and lacrosse. At that time OWU was in the Ohio Athletic Conference. During a conference coaches meeting, then NSCAA president and College of Wooster Coach Bob Nye made an impassioned pitch for all the coaches to join the Association. I did not really know what it was all about. But I joined. Later in that season, Bob Dowdy, the Akron University coach retired from coaching. He was on the NSCAA Board of Directors. Bob Nye asked me to take his place. I did. Thus began 40-plus years in the middle of the Association’ s history.
EXPANSION AND FORMALIZATION
I have been very lucky. I have been on the Board during some big changes. In the 1970s, the focus was on increasing membership. We did not have many members because we were, at first, a college-coach-dominated Association. In those days, the structure was different. We had eight regional reps. I oversaw the Mid-east Region, where, as I mentioned, our focus was on increasing membership. The Reps held meetings and ran free clinics to get coaches to sign up. Our numbers increased as we added high school and youth coaches.
As numbers grew, we turned our attention to formalizing the Association. It should be noted that at this time the Association was run by volunteers only. Under the leadership of University of Connecticut coach and NSCAA president, Joe Morrone, we created the first Association constitution. It is a document we still use today. There have been some tweaks, but the framework of the original is still the document that shows us the way.
COACHING EDUCATION
As enrollment continued to climb, our focus turned to education. We started offering coaching diplomas in the 1970s. We started with small“ day courses” and quickly expanded to formal weeklong courses. The offerings began with“ beginner” type courses through the Advanced National Diploma. Slowly, through the’ 70s and’ 80s we became the main soccer education provider in the United States. As our national influence grew, the annual convention also grew, becoming a major event for U. S. soccer coaches. As the convention expanded, it attracted more and more international coaches and corporations. It became one of the largest and most important soccer events in the world!!
THE SOCCER BOOM OF THE 1990S
The growth of soccer hit a high note with the U. S. hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup. This helped the Association expand both membership and coach development offerings.
Our Academy program expanded significantly as soccer hit a fever pitch. The Association was able to increase the resources necessary to support the increase in educational offerings.
This afforded us the opportunity to expand our digital and online courses. In addition, course offerings were increased to include“ special topics” courses. These were shorter courses than the diploma courses and addressed specific topics. These courses were very popular with the membership and continue to be to this day.
TRANSITION
As we entered the 2000s, there was a deep strategic reassessment of the Association. It was concluded that the name“ NSCAA” did not reflect the organization’ s global reach and the diversity of members. Membership now included youth, college, professional and international coaches as well as administrators, referees and other soccer leaders. As a result, the Association rebranded in 2017 and became United Soccer Coaches. The motivation was for the Association to reflect a more inclusive, modern and global identity.
TODAY
United Soccer Coaches is the largest soccer coaches’ organization in the world. While the focus remains primarily on coach education, other important goals include networking, lifelong learning and leadership development at all levels.
Soccer Journal was established in 1941. It began with editor Don Yonkers of Drexel University. It was originally a record of the minutes and financial report of the annual meeting sent to members who could not attend the meeting. The early meetings were in New York. Eventually, the magazine expanded and added soccer-related articles, drills and stories. Under the leadership of Tim Schum, the magazine was published monthly and offered stories, lesson plans and soccer coaching activities that would be useful to all coaches. I became editor in 2021. I could never do the job as well as Don and Tim. I simply tried to help and support the membership.
While I understand that I am just one of many who have helped the organization grow, I am very happy with my involvement in the growth of this organization over the years. I look forward to watching United Soccer Coaches continue to grow and continue to be an important part of soccer in this country and the world. n
8 | Soccer Journal