Sports

Middlefield Native Wins Coach of the Year

Marcus DiBernardo, head men's soccer coach at Monroe College, was recently named national junior college coach of the year.

 

Middlefield native Marcus Dibernardo has been named the 2011 Junior College Men's Division I National Coach of the Year.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America presented the award to Coach 'D' on Friday, Jan. 13 in front of more than 1,500 at the organization's 65th annual Awards Banquet in Kansas City, MO.  

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Dibernardo is the first coach from Monroe College (Bronx, NY) to have won the award and the first coach in New York State to have won the award in ten years.

"I am humbled to have won this prestigious award. It's an incredible honor," said Dibernardo. "But while individual accolades are very satisfying, we can never lose sight of our ultimate goals of providing opportunities for young men to benefit from the opporunity they get from participating in the Monroe soccer program."

In their formal statement, the NCSAA noted that Coach 'D' led his team to the NJCAA championship game and a No. 1 ranking in the final NSCAA/Continental Tire national poll. The Mustangs posted a 14-2-1 record while allowing only 10 goals all season (four of which came in the national championship game), while scoring 60 goals of their own. In the past two seasons, DiBernardo has fashioned a record of 33-4-1.

"Coach Dibernardo has earned this award," said Athletic Director Bert Shillingford. "For not only the remarkable success his teams have had on the field, but also because he has put together a full soccer program for players in a range of skill levels that turns them into young men with the potential to ahcieve not only in sport, but as productive members of society."

In just three years at Monroe, Coach Dibernardo has grown men's soccer to inlude a junior varsity as well as a soccer academy which debuts this fall. More than 80 student/athletes participate in men's soccer programs and that number is expected to rise.

A native of Middlefield, Conn, Coach 'D' played and coached in the NCAA at Central Connecticut State University and he was a coach at MLK HS when they won the 2006 PSAL Boys Soccer Championship.  He also coached Brandeis, Truman, Platt, and Portland High School teams, as well as a number of other teams and clubs.  

He's known for coaching an attacking style of soccer. 

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"I like my players to have freedom on the field while fitting into the team concept," he said. "Players who come with a positive attitude and great work ethic are always welcome here. They must understand that the team is the priority at Monroe, not the individual." 

Witten by Gary Axelbank, Sports Information Director, Monroe College


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