Jan. 18, 2008

BALTIMORE, Md. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is proud to announce that Gerry Cleary of Martin Methodist (Tenn.) is the 2007 Brine-NAIA Women's Soccer National Coach of the Year. The honor was officially announced on Friday, January 18, at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Annual Convention in Baltimore.

"This just goes to show how good of a team we had this year" said coach Cleary. "We were able to overcome a lot of adversity and come out on top. You have to play with the cards you are dealt with and this is a reflection of the hard work and effort by all the players and coaching staff. To have won this award twice is a great honor and it goes hand in hand with the kind of season we had in 2007."

Cleary earns the honor after guiding his 2007 Redhawks to the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship. This is the second time in three years his squad has won the title. MMC was crowned champion on Nov. 20 with a 2-1 victory over Azusa Pacific (Calif.). The Redhawks scored twice in the first half to defeat the No. 3 seeded Cougars in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. En route to the National Championship, the No. 5 ranked Redhawks defeated the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams. Cleary's team finished 19-4-1 and won their last 16 matches this past season.

In 2007, Cleary mentored NAIA Player of the Year Marcia Silva. Six of his Redhawks were selected NAIA All-Americans this past season.

"He is such an amazing coach and definitely deserves this honor" said junior defender Macia Silva.  "He is a great motivator and always gets the most out of us. Even though we have some pretty talented players, there is no way we could have done what we did without coach Cleary."

Cleary has spent five seasons at Martin Methodist where he has compiled an 88-19-5 record. In addition to his Coach of the Year honor, Cleary was named NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) Regional Coach of the Year for the Southwest Region and was selected the TranSouth Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Cleary arrived at Martin Methodist after three seasons as a member of the NCAA Division II National Champion Christian Brothers University coaching staff, where he received a master's degree in Education in 2002. A 1999 graduate of Lambuth University (Tenn.), he earned a B.S. in Physical Education and Health. During his playing career with the Eagles, he was a three-time NAIA All-American, four time First Team All-Mid South Conference selection, and was voted twice Mid-South Conference Player of the Year. During Cleary's tenure, Lambuth captured three Mid-South Conference Championships and he was named captain for three years.

Cleary has also coached club teams that have won numerous Tennessee State Championships. He has the honor of being a Superclubs National Team Coach, in which the team travels to England once a year to compete against English Premier League teams.

Cleary has had his coaching tips published in the World Soccer Magazine.

This is the second National Coach of the Year award for Cleary. He had previously won the award in 2005.