Will Maintain Role as Maroons' Director of Athletics
SALEM, Va.
--- Scott
Allison '79 has announced that he
will retire as men's soccer coach at Roanoke College at the
conclusion of the 2012 season. A national search for the next
men's soccer head coach will begin in November headed by Allison,
who will remain on staff as the college's director of athletics, a
position he has held since 1989.
The final home men's soccer match of the regular season will be
held at Kerr Stadium Tuesday at 7 p.m. vs. Emory & Henry.
With a win, the Maroons will clinch the regular season conference
championship and will earn home field advantage throughout the Old
Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament. The ODAC
Tournament will begin with the quarterfinal round matches on
Saturday, Oct. 27.
“I will always cherish the special relationships that Roanoke
College Soccer afforded me,” Allison said. “The
guys that chose to attend Roanoke College and play college soccer
for me have enriched my life. Any success we've had at
Roanoke, I credit them - I enjoyed being along for the ride.
I appreciate my coaching colleagues as well. They helped make
the coaching profession enjoyable. I am forever grateful for
the opportunity to coach at Roanoke College.”
A former two-sport athlete at Roanoke College, Allison has guided
the men's soccer program for 27 years. The team's 305 match
victories give Allison the most wins in the 66-year history of the
sport at Roanoke.
Allison's 158 conference wins are the most in the 37-year history
of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). He is one of
only 36 coaches in NCAA Division III men's soccer history with 300
wins, and ranks 22nd amongst active
NCAA Division III coaches.
“Scott's accomplishments as a soccer coach and athletic
director are legendary at Roanoke, in ODAC, and in the NCAA,”
stated Roanoke College President, Mike Maxey. “I am
grateful for his influence on the student athletes that he has
coached and mentored. He has taught them to be better
athletes and better men. His contributions are
incredible.”
Allison came back to his alma mater in the summer of 1986 after
serving as a soccer and lacrosse coach at Ivy League member
Dartmouth College (1983-86). The 1991 Roanoke College
Athletic Hall of Fame inductee also held stints at the Naval
Academy (1981-83) and Salisbury University (1979-81). He was
a starter on the Maroons 1978 men's lacrosse national championship
team.
Allison will continue to lead Roanoke's athletics department as
athletic director. His resume is impressive on the
administrative side as well. In 2002, Allison was named the
National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA)
Division III Southeast Region AD of the Year. The Maroons had
the second best winning percentage of small colleges in Virginia,
including the best of any private institution in the commonwealth
in 2000-01.
“We will miss his coaching but are thrilled about his
impending works as full-time athletic director,” said
Maxey. “The College and all of our athletic
programs will benefit from his commitment as AD for the
Maroons.”
Since becoming Roanoke's athletics director in the fall of 1989,
the Maroons' athletic teams have enjoyed remarkable success.
The Maroons have made 66 trips to the NCAA postseason and have
claimed 62 ODAC crowns.
“This is a major step forward for Roanoke College
Athletics,” Roanoke College Vice President of Student
Affairs, Gene Zdziarski said. “We are excited to have
Scott's leadership and significant years of experience in this
important role.”
Allison, also the 1979 Roanoke College Male Athlete of the
Year, has accumulated
over 60 percent of the men's soccer match victories. His
teams have won seven of the eight ODAC Championships (1988, 1993,
1994, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007) and have appeared in the NCAA
Tournament five times (1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007). He also
led the Maroons to nine regular season conference
championships. With a win on Tuesday, he can make it to No.
10.
Allison, an NSCAA All-South Region player for the Maroons, was
voted ODAC Coach of the Year on six occasions (1988, 1993, 2001,
2002, 2004, 2008), VaSID State College Division Coach of the Year
four times (1993, 2001, 2002, 2004) and named NSCAA South Region
Coach of the Year in 1993.
Throughout his career, Allison has been able to get the most out of
his players. He has produced six NSCAA All-Americans, six
ODAC Players of the Year and four ODAC Rookies of the Year. A
win Tuesday would give him his sixth-straight 10-win season and the
19th in his career at Roanoke.
The 1993 team was Allison's best season with the Maroons. The
team set school records in wins (20), best record (20-4), best
finish in the post-season and had a NSCAA National Player of the
Year in Dustin Fonder '94. The
team was a national quarterfinalist, falling to the eventual
national champion University of California, San Diego in four
overtimes.
--- This release
is courtesy of the Roanoke College sports information department.
---
maroons.roanoke.edu