Courtney Nash: Head Coach - 1st Season
cnash@montreat.edu828.669.8011 x 3427
616.403.9138
Coach Nash is entering her first season as Head Coach of the Lady Cavaliers soccer team. She comes to Montreat College from Michigan where she has been coaching at a variety of levels for the past 10 years.
Nash attended Saginaw Valley State University from 1997-2000 on a soccer scholarship where was a four year starter and team captain for three years. It was in college when Nash first began coaching as a trainer for travel youth clubs and shortly began her first head coaching positions at Frankenmuth High as the JV Girls and Freeland High School as the Boys Varsity. Despite a successful start to her coaching career she still has a passion to play soccer at the highest levels. After completing her BA in Sports and Fitness Management, Nash put her coaching on hold and travelled to Asheville, NC to play Semi-Pro soccer for the Asheville Splash W-League team in 2003.
Feeling led to return to Michigan, Coach Nash, headed back north and landed in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There she began a full time coaching position in 2005 as the Director of Youth Development and the Girls Academy, at the Chicago Fire Juniors - Michigan, a direct affiliate of the MLS Chicago Fire. While coaching for the CFJ-Michigan club, she has lead her teams to the State Cup Quarter Finals, Super Y Nationals Finals in 2008 and 2009, as well as winning her Premier divisions on numerous occasions. In addition to coaching at the youth level, Coach Nash was also the Assistant Coach for Davenport University in 2009-10 helping to lead the Panthers to their most successful season ever taking 3rd place in the WHAC and making post season play for the first time. She was also the Head Coach for the Mona Shores Varsity Girls Program where she led the team to an overall record of 12-5-1 finishing second in their conference.
In addition to her wealth of coaching experiences, Nash has also been blessed with some high level playing opportunities. After her collegiate experiences Nash continued to play semi-pro soccer within the USL W-League for seven years, the highest level of women's soccer prior to the start of WPS in 2009. While playing for the Asheville Splash and West Michigan Firewomen, Nash played with and against some of the bests female soccer players in the nation. In 2006 she travelled to Japan as a part of Ambassadors in Sports (AIS) where she played and ministered the gospel of Christ to young kids and women. In September of 2009, Nash was selected to attend a player combine for the new Women's Professional Soccer League. From there she was invited by the New Jersey Sky Blue, eventual 2009 WPS Champions, to attend tryouts where she was one of only three girls out of 60 who were selected for preseason team camp and training.
After reaching this pinnacle in her playing career, Nash has chosen to focus more on her coaching which led her to Montreat College and the Lady Cavaliers. Her goals include developing a true Champions of Character team on and off the field as well as a successful program that is competitive within the conference year after year.
