KANSAS CITY, MO. (Oct. 29, 2020) — United Soccer Coaches announced on Thursday the recipients of the association’s 2020 Long-Term Service awards for youth, high school and college soccer. The awards are presented annually to members who have exhibited a career of contributions at their level of the sport and a continued commitment of service to the association.
The honorees will be presented their awards at the association’s annual Awards Ceremony taking place Jan. 13, 2021 as part of the United Soccer Digital Coaches Convention.
Sasho Cirovski | Highland, Md.
Bill Jeffrey College Long-Term Service Award
A United Soccer Coaches member since 1989, Cirovski has been the head coach at the University of Maryland since 1993. He has transformed the Terrapin program into a national power, leading the team to three national championships (2005, 2008 and 2018). His teams have made nine College Cup appearances, won 15 conference titles, and qualified for 25 NCAA Tournaments. Entering his 28th season at Maryland and 30th season overall as a college head coach, he sports a 424-164-62 career record, including a 398-151-55 mark at Maryland.
A leader among his peers and players, Cirovski has also worked to elevate the college game on the national stage. He served as the longtime chair of the Division I Coaches Committee and has been one of the most influential people in the college game. He was the driving force that convinced the association to hire a full-time employee to work on behalf of college soccer, which has led to more televised games, a lobbying voice with the NCAA and a constant effort to push programs to enhance their facilities, better market their programs and support the annual College Cup.
Cirovski was inducted into the UW-Milwaukee Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 for his collegiate playing career and he received a Letter of Commendation from United Soccer Coaches in 2017.
Reid Wiecks | Monument, Colo.
Robert W. Robinson High School Long-Term Service Award
Supported by the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO)
Wiecks, a United Soccer Coaches member since 1980, spent 31 years as a high school coach, first at Kamehameha High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he started the girls soccer program in 1974 and took over the boys program in its first year as a JV program, and then at Lewis-Palmer High School in Monument, Colo. from 1988-2008. He won three United Soccer Coaches Regional Coach of the Year awards and was an eight-time district or conference coach of the year in Colorado. His teams won three Colorado state championships, were runners-up three times, and won six district championships and four regional championships. He won four Hawaii Prep Academy Girls’ Championships and recorded one state runner-up finish with his boys’ team in Hawaii.
Wiecks has served on various United Soccer Coaches awards committees for decades, including the Region 7 Girls’ High School Coach of the Year Committee for the past 23 years. He served on the High School Long-Term Service Award committee from 1998-2014, including a stint as the chair of the committee from 2008-14. He was the Colorado State Girls’ Coach of the Year Representative from 1997-2015.
Wiecks serves as the Colorado High School Soccer Coaches Association (CHSSCA) Treasurer, a position he has held since 2002. He spearheaded the creation of the CHSSCA’s Long-Term Service Award and is chairman of the CHSSCA’s Annual Scholarship Award made to a graduating high school soccer player since 2014. He received a Certificate of Appreciation from United Soccer Coaches in 2015.
Mike Barr | Wallingford, Pa.
Charlotte Moran Youth Long-Term Service Award
A United Soccer Coaches member since 1981, Barr is currently the Technical Director for the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association after previously serving as EPYSA Director of Coaching for 27 years. He coaches boys soccer at Kennett High School in Kennett Square, Pa. after 20 years as the boys’ coach at Strath Haven High School where he guided his teams to five PIAA state championships.
A former special education teacher, Barr has been heavily involved as an instructor for TOPSoccer and was instrumental in the development of the first High School Diploma course for United Soccer Coaches. He was a member of the association’s academy staff, teaching courses at the state, regional, and national level. He served as a clinician for five United Soccer Coaches Conventions and was on the local organizing committee for those events held in Philadelphia.
Barr has received numerous youth and high school coaching recognition awards during his tenure. He was inducted into the Millersville University Hall of Fame as a soccer athlete, and is a member of the Delaware County, Pennsylvania High School Coaches, and Pennsylvania Sports Halls of Fame.