2008 Woodie Awards
Alumnus as new soccer coach
Full-time women's soccer coach cuts salary for tennis coach
by Cassie Scarborough
Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: News
The Piedmont College women's soccer team will start its 2008 season with a new coach. The search began with a national advertisement in The NCAA News that retained 90 applicants from around the world including South Africa and Europe. It ended with the college hiring Stephen Andrew as the full-time women's soccer coach.
The women's head coach position is new to Piedmont. Recently, Jimmy Stephens headed both programs. It was John Dzik's decision as athletic director at Piedmont that the soccer program would be better served if the position was split between two coaches.
"Soccer maintains the second and third largest rosters falling behind baseball," says Dzik. "It was unfair for one individual to recruit for these large teams and splitting the position offers more opportunities in recruiting for each individual team."
Dzik also says that creating the news position doesn't change the sports' operating budget. The only change lies in the salaries with the tennis coach becoming part-time and soccer becoming full-time.
Andrew hails from Falkirk, Scotland. However, this isn't Andrew's first trip to Piedmont College. In 2004 Andrew received his undergraduate degree in Sports Marketing and earned a Masters in Business Administration in 2007.
As a four-year starter for Piedmont's men's soccer team, Andrew holds the record for all-time goal scorer at 114. He also earned the Great South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, along with several All-Conference honors, each of his four seasons. While earning his Masters degree, he served under Jimmy Stephens as a graduate assistant for both the men's and women's soccer teams.
"Stephen was well regarded as both a player and graduate assistant. His familiarity of the program was a definite plus during the application process, but he also shows great work ethic, ability to get along and decision making prowess," says John Dzik, Athletic Director for Piedmont College.
Andrew comes back to Piedmont with one year's head coaching experience at Huntingdon College.
"When Jimmy Stephens first informed me of the job opening at Piedmont, I was hesitant because I had only been at Huntingdon for one year. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to come back to a program that I know and love," says Andrew.
The women's head coach position is new to Piedmont. Recently, Jimmy Stephens headed both programs. It was John Dzik's decision as athletic director at Piedmont that the soccer program would be better served if the position was split between two coaches.
"Soccer maintains the second and third largest rosters falling behind baseball," says Dzik. "It was unfair for one individual to recruit for these large teams and splitting the position offers more opportunities in recruiting for each individual team."
Dzik also says that creating the news position doesn't change the sports' operating budget. The only change lies in the salaries with the tennis coach becoming part-time and soccer becoming full-time.
Andrew hails from Falkirk, Scotland. However, this isn't Andrew's first trip to Piedmont College. In 2004 Andrew received his undergraduate degree in Sports Marketing and earned a Masters in Business Administration in 2007.
As a four-year starter for Piedmont's men's soccer team, Andrew holds the record for all-time goal scorer at 114. He also earned the Great South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, along with several All-Conference honors, each of his four seasons. While earning his Masters degree, he served under Jimmy Stephens as a graduate assistant for both the men's and women's soccer teams.
"Stephen was well regarded as both a player and graduate assistant. His familiarity of the program was a definite plus during the application process, but he also shows great work ethic, ability to get along and decision making prowess," says John Dzik, Athletic Director for Piedmont College.
Andrew comes back to Piedmont with one year's head coaching experience at Huntingdon College.
"When Jimmy Stephens first informed me of the job opening at Piedmont, I was hesitant because I had only been at Huntingdon for one year. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to come back to a program that I know and love," says Andrew.
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