Dallamora earns national honors for service to women’s soccer

Acclaimed Brandeis coach oversaw and chaired the national women's soccer committee

After an impressive season in which she notched her 300^th win and led the Judges to the second round of the NCAA tournament, Brandeis women’s soccer coach Denise Dallamora has earned another accolade. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Women’s Committee presented its Award for Excellence to Dallamora at the NSCAA’s annual convention in Philadelphia on Friday, Jan. 16.

“I am very deeply humbled,” says Dallamora. “The past recipients of this award are some of the most influential women in soccer. Four of the past winners are women from the U.S team that won the 1999 World Cup, one of the biggest moments in American sports. To be a part of that group is amazing.”

Dallamora, who started the women’s soccer program at Brandeis in 1980, has qualified the Judges for the NCAA tournament four times and has earned a number of coaching honors, including being named the University Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 1988. She also served as the first chairperson of the NSCAA women’s committee, of which she is also a founding member.

“At my first meeting with the board, I decided it would be best if it wasn’t just me representing women,” says Dallamora. “It needed to be a coach from the youth, college and professional levels and I asked them to form a women’s committee, which they did.”

In her role as chairperson of the women’s committee, Dallamora oversaw initiatives that not only encouraged women of all ages to play soccer, but also to volunteer in their communities, become clinicians and join the board to give female athletes a stronger voice. She worked to get Dr. Laurie Whitsel, who would eventually become the first woman president of the NSCAA, onto her board of directors.

Toward the end of her tenure as chairperson, Dallamora collaborated with April Heinrichs, who would later coach the 2003 U.S. women’s World Cup team, to petition and raise money for the women’s national team to compete at 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Dallamora’s efforts paid off, as the U.S. won the gold medal.

Dallamora stepped down from her position following six years of service to focus exclusively on coaching at Brandeis, though her legacy with the NSCAA still continues.

Today, she’s one of the country’s most tenured and respected collegiate coaches. But she’s most proud of her players’ accolades both on and off the field.

“For as long as I have known her, Denise has been passionate about soccer, Brandeis and—most importantly—her student-athletes,” says Brandeis Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa. “Her teams have been successful on the field, but the quality of the people she has helped bring to Brandeis speaks volumes more about the kind of coach she is. I am proud that she is a member of the Brandeis Athletics family. This award is most deserved.”