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The Coach of the Year Awards are your chance to say thank you and recognize someone who helped you achieve your goal, learn something new, or become the person you want to be through archery.

USA Archery certified coaches can be nominated for any of the categories, listed below. The winner of each category, in addition to USA Archery recognition, will also be nominated for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Coach of the Year Awards.

The categories for nomination are:


Developmental Coach

 The Developmental Coach of the Year award celebrates excellence in coaching, honoring a remarkable individual whose dedication to quality coaching has been exemplary. This prestigious accolade recognizes a coach who not only demonstrates exceptional knowledge and expertise but also embodies the application of evidence-based practices and an athlete-centered approach.


Volunteer Coach

The Volunteer Coach of the Year award celebrates excellence in coaching, honoring a remarkable individual whose dedication to quality coaching has been exemplary and volunteers their time coaching. This prestigious accolade recognizes a volunteer coach who not only demonstrates exceptional knowledge and expertise but also embodies the application of evidence-based practices and an athlete-centered approach.


"Doc" Counsilman Science Award

The “Doc” Counsilman Science Award celebrates an exceptional individual whose coaching prowess transcends traditional boundaries, harnessing the power of cutting-edge knowledge from sports medicine, sport science, and technology to elevate athlete performance. This prestigious accolade honors a coach who exemplifies a dedication to integrating the best available evidence from these fields into their coaching methodology, fostering advancements and breakthroughs in athletic achievement.

They harness data-driven insights to tailor training regimens, optimize recovery methods, and fine-tune performance strategies for individual athletes and teams alike. Their coaching isn't just based on intuition; it's a meticulously crafted synthesis of empirical evidence and hands-on experience. This coach is recognized for their innovative applications of sports science. Whether it's leveraging wearable technology for real-time performance monitoring, utilizing advanced biomechanical analysis for technique refinement, or integrating state-of-the-art recovery modalities, their creative use of sports science sets new benchmarks in the coaching realm.

This coach's commitment to excellence is about nurturing long-term athlete development through the lens of scientific rigor. They foster an environment that encourages curiosity, experimentation, and continual learning, inspiring athletes and fellow coaches to embrace the transformative potential of integrating sports science into coaching methodologies.


Regional and National Collegiate Coach of the Year

Each year, USA Archery is honored to recognize outstanding coaching efforts in the Collegiate Archery Program by recognizing Regional Coaches of the Year and a National Coach of the Year.

All Regional Coaches of the Year (one per region: East, North, South, West) shall be eligible for National Coach of the Year.  The Regional Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year awards will be announced at the Collegiate Target Nationals.
Collegiate clubs in good standing will submit nominations to USA Archery. There will be a limit of one nomination per program. Each coach may only be nominated once.

The USA Archery Coach Advisory Council, Collegiate Archery Program Advisory Council and select USA Archery staff will review nominations and vote to determine the Regional Coach of the Year Winners. This same group will vote to determine the National Coach of the Year. References to nominee name and school will be removed from nomination materials prior to voting. All individuals with a conflict of interest will be abstain from voting.

2024 Regional Coach of the Year

North Region Craig Holycross, Muskingum University
West Region Francis Parchaso, Stanford University
South Region Kris Strebeck, University of the Cumberlands
National Coach of the Year Craig Holycross

2024 collegiate Coach of the year Nomination Form


Previous COach of the year award Winners

Year National Coach 
1996 Lloyd Brown
1997 John Williams
1998 Nancy Myrick
1999 Sheri Rhodes
2000 Lloyd Brown
2001 Tom Parrish
2002 Frank Thomas
2003 Kevin Eldredge
2004 Alexander Kirillov
2005 Mark Penaz
2006 Dee Wilde
2007 Terry Wunderle
2009 Alexander Kirillov
2010 Mel Nichols
2012 Mel Nichols
2013 Mike Usherenko
2014 Derek Davis
2016 Roxanne Reimann-Ryea
2017 Steve Yee Holly Stover
Year Developmental Coach 
1996 Cindy Bevilacqua  
1997 Glenn Harris  
1998 Robert Romero  
1999 Jackie Fiala  
2000 Helen Bolnick  
2001 Charlene McCullough  
2002 Randi Smith  
2003 Ron McCormick  
2004 Larry Skinner  
2005 Larry Sullivan  
2006 Linda Beck  
2008 Larry Anderson  
2009 Jiim Pruitte  
2010 Teresa (Iaconi) Johnson  
2011 Michael Wichser  
2012 Linda Beck  
2013 Jim White  
2014 George Ryals  
2015 Jeff Sanchez  
2016 Greg Semaan  
2017 Gabriel Querol
Gary Neal
Heather Pfeil
2018 Alexander Kirillov Linda Beck
2019 Eric Tollefson Melinda Hawley
2020 Laval Falks Linda Beck
2021 Brent Harmon Dr. Penny Veit-Hetletved
2022 Frank McDonough Rhonda Crabtree
2023 Dr. Robert 'Bob' Park  Melissa Tennant
Year Volunteer Coach 
2004 Jim & Anita Krueger  
2005 Tim & Sandi Scronce  
2006 Tom Barker  
2008 Mike Wischer  
2009 Steve McKenna  
2010 Jim Coombe  
2012 Doug Krebs  
2013 Mechell Pruitte  
2014 Kathleen Roberts-Stevenson  
2015 Jerry Shuck  
2016 Jeff Fabry  
2017 Andy Pucket  
2018 Rob Cook Sylvia Wall
2019 Jason Pfister Liz Coombe
2020 James Gatton Melissa Tennant
2021 Chris Cheng Karin Bock
2022 Chad Jones  
2023 Randolph 'Randy' McDonald Sarah Briscoe
Year 'DOC' Counsilman Coaching Science Award
2013 Derek Davis
2016 Derek Davis
2021 William Bowman
2023 Kyle Bissell
Year Olympic Coach
2019 Kisik Lee

 

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