Washington Named Soccer Coach of Year

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010

WALLA WALLA, Wash.— After leading his team to a second-place finish for the second time in three years, Whitman College men's soccer coach Mike Washington has been named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year for men's soccer.

Washington, now in his 13th season at Whitman, garnered the award in a post-season vote among NWC coaches.

Mike Washington

"Mike has been producing outstanding soccer teams for years now, and it's nice to see him be recognized by his peers in the coaching community," Whitman athletic director Dean Snider said.

"Mike is well respected and well liked by his athletes and by is colleagues in our athletic department. He is a valued contributor in many ways to our department."

With Washington at the helm, the men's soccer team caught fire at mid-season this fall and collected seven victories and one tie in its last eight games. The surge, which included a school record six straight wins, came within one game of giving the Missionaries a share of the NWC championship.

Whitman finished its NWC season with a 9-3-2 record and split its two-game season series with Pacific University, the team that edged the Missionaries for the conference crown.

The 2010 season completed a quick turn-around for a Whitman soccer program that finished in the runner-up spot two years ago but then graduated 11 seniors from that team. With its ranks depleted, the team slipped to seventh during the 2009 campaign.

Washington, a native of England, came to the U.S. in 1981 after having played and coached in the highly competitive British club ranks. Before coming to Whitman, he coached at Bellevue Community College and a handful of high schools in the Puget Sound area.

He also spent two years as director of coaching for the Northshore Youth Soccer Association (based in Woodinville, Wash.), which had responsibility at the time for 1,000 coaches and 6,000 players ranging in age from six to 18 years.

Washington has been active for years in the Olympic Development program. He has also coached local youth teams and has served as the boys coach at Walla Walla High School (Wa-Hi) for the past two spring seasons. Wa-Hi made the district playoffs in his first season and then captured its first-ever league championship in his second year at the helm.

While at Whitman, Washington has organized and led his team every four years on two-week summer tours of England. This past summer his squad went undefeated against British club teams, notching four wins and a tie.

Washington's own playing career began in earnest at age 14 when his family was living in southwest England, near the city of Bristol. He and his friends formed the Ellenboro Football Club and his late father, Roy Washington, was the first coach.

Most English football clubs are financed by business interests, and the larger clubs support several teams ranging from youth to adult. Older players, who are paid, help coach the younger teams.

When he was 24, Washington transferred to the Worlebury Southside Football Club, where he played for nine more years, his last two as a player-coach. He was a midfielder and forward for most of his playing career, and he earned awards that ranged from leading scorer to most valuable player.

Before moving to Seattle in the early 1980s Washington worked as a player scout for Coventry City, which plays in the English Premier Division and whose history as a football club dates back to 1883.

Washington, who had his English Football Association Coaching Badge before coming to the U.S., soon added the U.S. Soccer Federation's "A", "B" and "C" licenses to his coaching credentials. The "A" license entitles him to coach at the collegiate, professional and Olympic Development levels.

Washington and wife Susan, who also works at Whitman, make their home in Walla Walla. His mum, Elsie Washington, who moved to the U.S. in 1977 with her late husband, also lives in Walla Walla.

CONTACT: Dave Holden,
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
holden@whitman.edu; (509) 527-5902