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Kenny Dale
Soccer - Head Coach
Email: Kenny Dale
What now, Kenny Dale? He has spent his previous six years gradually achieving what no other head coach in the history of the AWC Soccer program could before. First full-time AWC Head Soccer Coach? That would be Kenny, becoming a benchmark for renewed dedication to the program and its success when he was hired in the spring of 2005 in that capacity. Five playoff appearances in six years? Easily the most postseason berths in that short a span for the soccer program, and Dale’s six-year tenure has done just that. Back-to-back seasons of hosting playoff games? Never accomplished before Dale; now it’s been done two different times. Wins in the postseason? Again, it was always ‘close but no cigar’ before Kenny arrived, but 2009 saw history as the Matadors not only won one, but a pair of exciting Region I Playoff matches en route to their first-ever berth in the Region I Finals. A Region I Championship? Saving the best for last, as Dale’s 2010 team overcame perennial ACCAC powerhouses Yavapai and Pima to become only the third different school to win a Region I Men’s Soccer title in thrilling fashion, making it to the NJCAA West District Finals for the first time ever. Along the way, Dale has set new program marks for overall (18) and conference wins (16) in a single season. Dale came to AWC after seven successful seasons as a coach at Cochise College across the Grand Canyon State in Douglas, Arizona. His 20+ years of soccer coaching experience include stints at Moorpark College, Pepperdine University and Simi Valley High School. Dale has worked with college-level soccer athletes every season since 1988, and just began his third decade of college head coaching experience. Dale has also coached youth club teams, and this past spring became the director of coaching for the Western Arizona Soccer Academy in Yuma. He’s also worked for the Olympic Development Programs in California and Arizona. As a player, Dale was a college soccer star for both the University of Arizona and Kennesaw State University in Marietta, Georgia, as well as for the professional Tucson Amigos of the USISL. Dale earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1988 and a Master of Arts in History in 1993 from the University of Arizona. He became a USSF ‘A’ licensed coach in 1993, completed the NSCAA Premier Diploma course in 2005, and is proud to say that he completed the NSCAA Master Coach Program this past winter.
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Jay VanWassenhoven
Soccer - Assistant Coach
Email: Jay VanWassenhoven
AWC Head Soccer Coach Kenny Dale will be the first to share some credit for his Matador success with the man who’s beginning his fifth year sitting next to Dale on the Matador bench: Jay VanWassenhoven. Dale knows that the birth of success on the field is the recruiting trail, and the passion he and VanWassenhoven share for that is why Matador Soccer fans have seen the levels of talent & success rise dramatically & simultaneously in front of them. VanWassenhoven’s initial focus upon his arrival to the AWC campus in 2007 was on both fitness training and recruiting, but once Jay’s prowess in helping land recruits came to the forefront, he was named the team’s Recruiting Coordinator, and has continued to expand his roles in administrative support and operations with the program. In addition to what he’s accomplished with the Matadors, VanWassenhoven has helped shape and improve the Yuma-area high school soccer scene, first spending three years as the Girls’ Varsity Head Soccer Coach at San Luis High School before moving over to Gila Ridge High School in 2009 to be the Hawks’ Varsity Boys’ Soccer Coach. VanWassenhoven’s expertise in the overall world of soccer is evident on several different levels. He holds several coaching certifications, including the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Premier diploma and United States Soccer Federation Coaching Licenses. In addition to his college and high school coaching duties, this past spring, VanWassenhoven became a force in the club scene with the success of the newly formed Western Arizona Soccer Academy. A native of Wisconsin, VanWassenhoven graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Physical Education and Health from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. And after spending the last 6 years as a high school physical education teacher-first at SLHS then at Gila Ridge-VanWassenhoven is now associate faculty here at the AWC Fitness Center. In his spare time, VanWassenhoven enjoys playing soccer in the men’s league, mountain climbing, traveling and volunteering.
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Alfonso Perez
Soccer - Assistant Coach
E-Mail: Alfonso Perez
To many Matador Soccer fans, Alfonso Perez sometimes blended into the group of players ready to take the field before Matador Soccer matches. That’s a compliment to Perez, since he still looked like he could still hold his own from his playing days. To AWC Head Soccer Coach Kenny Dale, he wanted to make sure he knew exactly where Perez was before, during and after matches. That’s also a compliment to Alfonso, since in his first year as a member of the AWC Soccer coaching staff, Perez was showing both Dale and longtime assistant Jay VanWassenhoven reasons why he belonged on what would become a Region I Championship staff. Perez now takes what he learned in Year 1 of his coaching career, and tries to become an even more integral part of the coaching braintrust in 2011. Perez has spent much of his life on the pitch, having been a star defender for the Rams of Antelope High School in 1996. Even while he working in the private sector in the Yuma area, Perez continued to stay close to the local soccer scene and prepare for a career in coaching, and currently holds a United States Soccer Federation ‘D’ license.
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Jon Gronbach
Soccer - Assistant Coach
E-Mail:
It’s Jon Gronbach’s second tour of duty with the Matador Soccer coaching staff as he returns for 2011. Gronbach first showed AWC Head Soccer Coach Kenny Dale some of the things that he could show AWC’s goalkeepers during the preseason and first month of the 2008 season, and is back this season in the same capacity. Gronbach is a former goalkeeper himself, having grown up just west of here on the soccer fields of San Diego, California. Gronbach lived on the west coast until age 16, then moved to Iowa, and quickly became the team captain and an All-State selection in soccer at Fort Dodge High School. Gronbach then stayed in the Hawkeye State to continue his education and soccer career at Iowa Central Community College. After two years between the pipes at ICCC, Gronbach was invited to get his first taste of coaching at ICCC while he was earning his Associate’s Degree in Clinical Lab Science. Gronbach continued coaching the ICCC Tritons’ soccer team while he moved up to the 4-year level of education and received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. During Gronbach’s coaching tenure, the Tritons went to the NJCAA Tournament, finishing 4th in the nation. Gronbach is proud to say that he has earned his national D-Level soccer coaching license, and has also spent several years as the Director of Coaching for the Northwest Iowa Football Club. Gronbach finally decided he wanted to be closer to his family in San Diego and moved to Yuma. Jon currently works as a clinical scientist at Yuma Regional Medical Center.
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