KANSAS CITY, MO. (Nov. 14, 2019) – United Soccer Coaches announced on Thursday the recipients of the association’s 2019 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 annual United Soccer Coaches Awards Banquet on Jan. 17 in Baltimore during the 2020 United Soccer Coaches Convention.
Steve Clements | Lindale, Texas
Bill Jeffrey College Long-Term Service Award
A United Soccer Coaches member since 1994, Clements is in his 18th season as the head coach at Tyler Junior College, and his 26th season as a college head coach with a 475-81-19 career record. His teams have made 15 national tournaments with 11 Final Fours, nine championship match appearances and they’ve won seven national championships. He is the only coach to win a men’s soccer national championship with two different NJCAA Division I programs.
A leader among his players and peers, Clements served as the president of the National Junior College Soccer Coaches Association. He is a member of the NJCAA Rankings Committee and the NJCAA representative on the United Soccer Coaches College Coaches Advocacy Group. He served as the national chair of the association’s Junior College All-America Committee. He received a Certificate of Appreciation from the association in 2015 and a Letter of Commendation in 2016.
He was inducted into the NJCAA Men’s Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009 and to the Mississippi Junior College Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
Diane Davey | Parker, Texas
Robert W. Robinson High School Long-Term Service Award
Supported by the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO)
Davey, a United Soccer Coaches member since 1980, has embodied excellence in leadership and a longstanding list of coaching accolades. Playing a pivotal role in her home state of Texas, Davey was a founding member and three-term President for the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches (TASCO), where she initiated a partnership agreement with United Soccer Coaches. TASCO is now recognized as one of the largest high school soccer organizations in the country due to Davey’s strategic leadership.
Davey has served on various United Soccer Coaches awards committees for decades. She served on the National and Regional Top 25 Ranking Committee, was a member of the All-American Committee and was a past member of the Robinson Long-Term High School Award selection committee. Along with her continuous commitment serving United Soccer Coaches, she has been recognized for her coaching success with a National High School Girls Coach of the Year award in 1991, recipient of the High School Team Academic Award for 17 consecutive years and was named to the Most Career Wins list for High School Girls Soccer Coaches.
With a coaching resume that spans over three decades, Davey has also served on the TASCO Advisory Committee, Texas Girls Coaches Association and as a frequent clinician, guest speaker and coaching educator.
George Perry | Indianapolis, Ind.
Charlotte Moran Youth Long-Term Service Award
A United Soccer Coaches member since 1983, Perry has worked tirelessly to develop and offer entry-level soccer programs for boys and girls youth clubs as well as coaching and teaching in Olympic Development Programs in several states. He has been both a State and Regional ODP Director and since 2012 has served as Commissioner of the Indiana Soccer League, where he facilitates league play for travel and select soccer throughout the state of Indiana.
He has been involved with United Soccer Coaches in a variety of roles, including a term on the Board of Directors which included serving as association president in 2014. He has been instructing United Soccer Coaches and U.S. Soccer education courses for over 30 years and remains a member of the United Soccer Coaches Senior Academy Staff. He was the 2003 recipient of the Mike Berticelli Excellence in Coaching Education Award and served as Interim Director of Coaching Education for the association from 2011-12.
He was inducted into the Indiana Soccer Hall of Fame in 2017.