Coach Is Key To Soccer Success

By Stefanie  Sempek

May 6, 2009

Kelly Cagle has the experience under her cleats to prove that soccer was her calling. 

"I've always had a passion for soccer and my goal was to play as long as I could," said the Virginia Tech women's soccer head coach.

Cagle once played professional soccer with the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) Atlanta Beat before she began coaching at Virginia Tech in 2002. During her time at Tech, she than has turned the women's soccer program around. Before her arrival, the team had no winning seasons and only one win over a nationally ranked team in a 10-year period.

According to Cagle, the team needed to change its expectations, raise its standards early on and have a broad foundation off the field.

"The challenge now is to never settle," She said. "We rely a lot on off field development and leadership development. We still have some kids that don't buy into that, but I feel like that's a big part of the strides we've made here. We are working as hard as we can to develop mental toughness."

The team has responded to Cagle's coaching efforts.

"She has helped our team come so far by raising our standards in every aspect of the game and not allowing ourselves to be OK with mediocre," said Virginia Tech women's soccer player Kim Hickey.  "She has shown us how important those qualities are in our sport because there have been times when we weren't the better team but having that passion is what allowed us to win that game."

When Cagle moved the Virginia Tech to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004 it was clearly worth it.

"Now we have had three winning seasons and two NCAA appearances," said Sharon McCloskey, the senior associate director of athletics at Virginia Tech. "The last four seasons have been in the ACC which is the toughest women's soccer conference in the nation."

Cagle has experience playing in the ACC and knows the level of dedication it takes to be successful. According to Hokie Sports, in 1992, during her college soccer career, she helped bring Duke to a national runner-up finish and then four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances after that.

While at Duke, Cagle was the all time leader in career shots, goals and assists, as well as the all time leader in single season shots, goals and assists.

Cagle's record-setting abilities seem to have become a pattern at Virginia Tech as well. According to Hokie Sports, Virginia Tech has recorded the highest number of wins in a season, goals scored, shutouts and fewest goals allowed during the time that Cagle has been head coach.

Cagle's hard work and experience have paid off now that she was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. Cagle is said she is appreciative of the title, yet stressed that the team is bigger than any individual and that the title is an honor for the whole team.

"I think it's just a lot of hard work that has been put in during the last six years," said Cagle.  "I think it is nice to have the support and that people know Virginia Tech is a program that will continue to grow and develop. It reminds me that there are new challenges every year and we have to refocus and refresh."

Cagle is well-respected in the ACC. According to McCloskey, it was Anson Dorrance, the head women's soccer coach at North Carolina, who has won more national championships than any other women's soccer coach, nominated Cagle for the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.  

"The reason I nominated [Kelly Cagle] was because of her great run through the ACC tournament and the challenge they presented us in the final with no rest and a tremendous collection of quality ACC performances back to back to back," said Dorrance. "Kelly's teams play with grit and pride and don't sit back to try to make it close but attack and try to win. I respect what she has done and tried to show that with my nomination."

Junior teammate Kylie Stankovics respects having Cagle as a coach.

"She has made some great strides for this program and I am so happy that her success has finally been recognized," Stankovics said.

According to Cagle, her coaching style is based on providing information through communication and leading by example through a lifestyle of physical fitness. 

"With females," said Cagle, "I think if they are comfortable they will play better...we over communicate so they have the power to make changes or continue on the path that they are going on."

She also attests much of her coaching ability to her experience as both a college and professional player. Cagle explained that playing soccer has made her a better coach and she became better player once she started coaching. She also said that trial and error has played a large role in coaching.

Leadership is a fundamental skill that Cagle works on with her team. According to McCloskey, Cagle runs a leadership program during the offseason with guest speakers to talk to the team about what it takes to be a leader.

Before coaching at Virginia Tech, Cagle was selected in the 10^th round of the Women's United Soccer Association draft and played two seasons with the Atlanta Beat.

Cagle described her time with the WUSA as an "apprenticeship" for coaching. She said her time in the WUSA was very beneficial because she played a lot gained a lot of experience.

Prior to that, she was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Wake Forest University from 1997-2001. During that time, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were the ACC finalists in 1999 and made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Before coaching at Wake Forest, Cagle served as the assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at the University of Texas in 1996.

Virginia Tech seems to be the most favored location Cagle has coached. She enjoys the college town feel, the advanced facilities and the resources that student athletes have access to. 

"I tell people all the time that this is one of the most special places I have ever been. I feel pretty lucky because I've been to nice places like Texas, Wake and Duke, but I'm not sure there is anymore more special than Virginia Tech. We love it here," said Cagle.