Georgia College Soccer Tabs Clark for Head Coach

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. The Georgia College & State University athletic department and director Wendell Staton are proud to announce the hiring of Hope Clark as the third womens soccer coach in school history. Clark comes to Milledgeville after three seasons as the head coach of the womens soccer program at Auburn University Montgomery.

We are thrilled that Hope Clark has decided to lead our soccer program at Georgia College, said Staton. She has proven herself as an outstanding head coach while leading her last program to national success. The winning on the field was equaled by the success of the team in the classroom and in the community. I am most pleased for our student-athletes who will be challenged every day to be their best. Coach Clark brings a great value system, tremendous energy, professionalism, and attention to detail to our University. We look forward to her taking our outstanding program to even greater heights.

Clark compiled a 35-22-4 mark in her three years at AUM, including advancing to the second round of the 2009 NAIA National Championship Tournament. In her three seasons, the Lady Senators had seven All-Americans, six all-region players and 13 total all-conference honorees. In 2009, AUM was an impressive 15-5-2, falling by penalty-kick shootout in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Championship to the eventual 2009 National Champions. The Lady Senators opened the NAIA National Tournament with a 5-3 drubbing of Embry-Riddle before falling in the second round 3-2 to No. 3 California Baptist.

The 2007 Lady Senators, Clarks first squad as a collegiate head coach, finished with a strong 14-5-1 record, advanced to the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament semifinals and earned a berth in the NAIA regional tournament. Clarks 2008 team struggled through a tough regular-season schedule combined with injuries to finish just 6-12-1, but did advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament and produced the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Offensive Player of the Year, two first-team All-SSAC players and an All-American.

I am excited for the opportunity to lead the Lady Bobcats Womens Soccer program, said Clark. I truly believe that Georgia College is the best place for me and look forward to a very successful career. I am blessed for the experience and success that the team and I achieved at AUM and am very grateful for the support of so many people, for without them I would not be here. The Georgia soccer community has always supported me and I am thankful for the chance to return.

Clark has previously worked in Georgia, where she spent one year as head coach of varsity boys soccer at Spalding High School. Her collegiate coaching experience includes two seasons (2002-03) as an assistant at the University of Tampa, where she was directly responsible for the training and development of the Spartans goalkeepers. In both of her seasons at Tampa, UTs goalie was voted second-team all-conference and the 2003 Tampa team reached the NCAA postseason.

Clarks first collegiate coaching experience came as an assistant at American University in Washington, D.C., in 2000-01. In 2001, Clarks work with the Eagles goalkeeper helped American earn a Patriot League co-championship and All-Patriot League and All-Patriot League Tournament honors for the student-athlete.

Clark spent 2004 through 2006 helping develop some of the top youth soccer talent in Georgia as a staff coach with the Olympic Development Program/Georgia Youth Soccer Association. In addition, she spent 2006 as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Glory United Football Club in Hampton, Ga., and 2004 and 2005 as director of goalkeeping and staff coach for the AFC Lightning Soccer Club in Fayetteville, Ga.

A native of Louisiana, the former Hope Handley played collegiate soccer as a goalkeeper at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. She was a member of VTs first-ever recruiting class as a freshman in 1994 and lettered all four years at Tech. As a sophomore, Clark was selected as the Hokies most valuable player and named third-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region following a season in which she set the Atlantic-10 Conference single-season record for saves with 179. Clark was the first Tech womens soccer player ever named All-Mid-Atlantic Region.

Clark played semi-professional soccer in 2005 and 2006 with the Atlanta Silverbacks in the womens division of the United Soccer Leagues. She has been the assistant director of The Last Defense Goalkeeping Academy and worked with Region 3 Olympic Development Program on staff. Clark earned her bachelors degree in exercise science and health promotion from Virginia Tech and her masters degree in fitness management from American University.

The Bobcats had another successful season in 2009, taking third in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) with a 5-1-4 mark, 10-6-5 overall, their third-straight 10-win season. Six Bobcats were named all-conference in 2009, led by the first All-American in school history, goalkeeper Mary Rob Plunkett.

The GCSU Department of Athletics, back-to-back winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Georgia College prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the Bobcats' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/GCSUSID for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCSUBobcats.com to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GCSU Athletics Hall of Fame.

AUM was a real national power under Brett Teach. HC did ok there, but the program has fallen off a lot since the Teach days. Best players were foreign and she won't be able to get those kids into GCSU or through NCAA Eligibilty. I wish her luck, but this hire does not strike any fear in the PBC.

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eom

Excellent choice! Good coach, good person. Hopefully she will get control of the party girls & put together a cohesive team. Thankfully, the most notorious party-hardy girls are seniors & in their last season, or have just graduated.

Thanks Hope.

The key to being a successful PBC coach is getting control of the flow of information about your program on the Forum right from day one.

Just took a sigh of relief. No worries about GCSU anymore

You will now join the tradition of GCSU coaches that will get blasted on a weekly basis.

Usually by the parents/players of Columbus State or parents/kids that couldn't get into GCSU.

Sorry, could not resist.

eom

Do you want to come see our five PBC soccer championships. You can show me yours.

As a CSU parent, I hope the above comment was really not written by another CSU parent. CGSU is always a fun game.

For four consecutive years, Georgia College has been named A Best in the Southeast by The Princeton Review.

Georgia Colleges inclusion on the list places it in an elite group of the top 25 percent of the nations 2,500 four-year colleges. Only three University System of Georgia colleges made the list: Georgia College, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.

We are especially pleased to continue to rank among the nations top colleges in a variety of publications, said Georgia College President Dorothy Leland. We are dedicated to offering our students the educational experience expected at an esteemed private liberal arts college with the affordability of public higher education. This particular national recognition is an indicator of the satisfaction of our students.

Georgia College is among 133 institutions in The Princeton Reviews "Best in the Southeast" section of its website feature, "2011 Best Colleges: Region by Region," posted Aug. 2 on PrincetonReview.com.

"We're pleased to recommend Georgia College to users of our site as one of the best schools to earn their undergrad degree, said Robert Franek, Princeton Review's senior vice president/publishing. We chose it mainly for (its) excellent academic programs.

The company bases the list on institutional data collected directly from the schools, visits and opinions of staff, college counselors and advisors.

We also take into account what students at the schools reported to us about their campus experiences on our 80-question student survey for this project, Franke said.

The Princeton Review asks students to rate their own schools on several issues -- from the accessibility of their professors to quality of the campus food -- and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students and their campus life.

A student surveyed for the review said Georgia College makes it easy to succeed. Everyone at GCSU really cares and wants you to succeed, whether it's in the classroom or out in the field studying in another country. There are so many opportunities to help you find your niche.

I just know Jay's life got easier

Imagine how Auburn Montgomery feels now. Now they have to scramble to find a coach (in less than a month) because it looks like their assistant was Hope's husband (according to AUM Women's Soccer Web Site). They are really in a bind.

Could stay until they found a replacement

Hope's husband and Ricardo Clarke's brother.