UC Soccer Coach Earns National Honor
- Release Date:Tuesday, January 19, 2010
By Matt Haught, Charleston Daily Mail sports writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Throughout his coaching career, Chad Duernberger said hard work and dedication would pay dividends.
He just did not know how large those dividends would be.
The second-year University of Charleston men's soccer coach has been named the Division II coach of the year by the National Soccer Coaches Athletic Association.
"It's a blessing to receive such an award, not only for myself but also for the players we've had," Duernberger said. "When I received the award, the first thing I did was text the whole team and my coaching staff to share this with them."
Duernberger's success, however, is part of his plan to make the Golden Eagles into a powerhouse.
"I told my first recruiting class last year that their goal was to win the conference in their junior year and in their senior year to get to the NCAAs," he said in November as his team practiced for its match in the national quarterfinals. "At the beginning of the year, I knew we had the talent and personnel to do well. But we are young. We're starting 10 freshmen and sophomores."
Duernberger, 26, graduated from UC in 2006 and began his head coaching career in 2008 with a 4-11-2 record. Those four wins, however, were quite a success for a program that was winless the previous year.
The 2009 season brought success to Duernberger's team. The Golden Eagles finished 19-4, including a 12-0 mark in the West Virginia Conference. He led his team to the national quarterfinals, where it lost to Lewis (Ill.) en route to a No. 7 national ranking by the close of the season.
"I knew we had the correct personnel, but I thought time and experience were needed," Duernberger said. "The most important thing was to turn that talent into a family as quickly as possible. That's when we became successful."
Duernberger said his team is working to meet the expectations set by such a successful turnaround.
"We just had first individual training sessions and the first thing we talked about was how the goal has changed each year," he said. "When I first received the job, our goal was just to win games. Now the goal is to win a national championship. That's where we're working from here on out."
Duernberger credits his players for his success.
"I can't thank the players enough for their discipline and hard work," he said. "I'm thankful for UC taking a chance on me two years ago as such a young coach and for giving me a shot to take this team in a positive direction."
In his career, Duernberger is 23-23-2.
A native of Belle, Duernberger graduated from South Charleston High School, and played soccer for the Black Eagles and at Riverside High School.
The announcement was made Friday as part of the annual NSCAA Awards Banquet at the 2010 NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia.
