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Dobrzanski and Women's Soccer Earn Sun Conference Coach of the Year Honors
On Monday Nov. 7th it was announced that JWU women's head soccer coach Eric Dobrzanski had been named the 2011 Sun Conference Coach of the Year. Embry-Riddle University's head coach Samantha Baggett-Bohon had claimed the award two years in a row. Former Northwood head coach Ty Brewer is another on the list as a two time winner of the award.
This was the first time since 2004 that the award was given to a coach that finished the season below .500 since Jeff Horner at St. Thomas University, as they finished 5-10-2 and 5-5-2 in conference play. In the past ten seasons, the award has gone to an Embry Riddle or Northwood University coach seven times.
"It is an incredible honor to be named Sun Conference Coach of the Year," commented coach Dobrzanski after hearing of the news. "I am still in shock that the other coaches would think of me for this award, considering it has usually been awarded to the team who has won the conference. I think it proves to our program and our players that we will be recognized as long as we keep doing things the right way. I have always told our players that we take care of the little things first and the rest will fall into place. I firmly believe that this is a team award. We only get recognized because of our player's hard work. They are a great group and they make my life easy, they show up to work every day and look to improve. It is very difficult to play for me and keep up with the demands of this program. I cannot say enough about this group of players and it feels good that we all can be recognized for our hard work."
"I also have to thank our athletic department here at JWU for giving me the opportunity to become a head coach. They are an incredible group of people, starting with my Athletic Director David Graham, our Sports Information Director Lucia Sanchez and our Trainer Amelia Sofis. Also my two assistants JC Gonzalez and Eleni Pizanias, they do so much for this program and allow our players just to think about playing the game. They all really allow me to build on the idea that we have here at JWU, which is no excuses and high expectations. With the new athletic facility that is close to completion, I can only imagine what we are going to get accomplished. Plus we will continue to have great recruiting classes."
Coach Dobrzanski will now turn his attention to bringing in a solid 2012 recruiting class to help build upon what the team accomplished this season. Dobrzanski will also leave for the second round of World Cup Qualifying in earlier December. His U20 squad from the Cayman Islands advanced out of the first round as they finished 1-1. They defeated Suriname 4-0 on day one, and then dropped a heartbreaker in the 93rd minute to Trinidad and Tobago 1-0.