George Washington University

Dec. 14, 2011

WASHINGTON – George Washington University Director of Athletics and Recreation Patrick Nero announced today that Sarah Barnes has been hired as GW's next head women's soccer coach.  Coach Barnes most recently spent the past four seasons as an assistant at the University of Texas.   

"Sarah emerged from an extremely strong pool of candidates as the ideal coach to head our women’s soccer program at this time," said Nero. "She was an exceptional player as a student-athlete at the highest levels of collegiate competition, and has since proven to be an astute strategist and coach both in terms of maximizing the development and output of her team, as well as in preparation to face our opposition.  Our student-athletes will benefit greatly from Sarah’s mentorship abilities both on and off the soccer pitch.” 

In her four years as an assistant coach at UT, Barnes was involved in every aspect of the Longhorn program, including scouting opponents and day-to-day operations.  Off the field, her main responsibilities included recruiting and video analysis, for a team that advanced to the NCAA tournament in three of the last four seasons.  Overall, as a player and coach, Barnes has participated in 17 of the last 18 NCAA tournaments, including three combined trips to the College Cup (as a player at Connecticut in 1994 and 1997, and as an assistant coach in 2003).    

“I am extremely excited to assume this role at GW,” said Coach Barnes.  “Not only is there a strong base of student-athletes already in the program, but to have the George Washington name behind me when I’m recruiting players to come play in the nation’s capital is incredibly promising.  I have been fortunate to have learned the game as a player and in an assistant capacity at two of the top schools in women’s college soccer, so I know that Tanya Vogel has left this program in a great place for me to achieve our lofty goals in the Atlantic 10 and beyond.” 

A graduate from the University of Connecticut, Coach Barnes spent 10 seasons on staff at UConn under long-time head coach Len Tsantiris.  During her time on Tsantiris' staff, she spent two seasons as a volunteer coach (1998-99), seven as an assistant coach (2000-06) and one year as the associate head coach in 2007.  UConn enjoyed a 167-57-17 record in those years, and advanced to the NCAA tournament each season.  The Huskies made eight trips to the Third Round (Final 16) of the tournament and six trips to the quarterfinals (Final Eight), while UConn advanced all the way to the College Cup championship game in 2003 with Coach Barnes on the sideline.  She also saw the Huskies win six Big East Regular Season Championships and two Big East Tournament Championships during her time at Connecticut.

Coach Barnes holds a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Advanced National diploma, an NSCAA goalkeeping certificate and a U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) "D" license. Her coaching resume also includes two years spent on the Region I Staff for the Olympic Development Program, where she workedwith the under-14 and under-16 age groups. Barnes also worked as both an assistant and head coach for the Connecticut Olympic Development Program, with players ranging from U-13 to U-17 age groups.  For her efforts, the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association named Coach Barnes the Thomas E. Krusewski Memorial Young Coach of the Year in 2006.

Originally from Snohomish, Wash., Barnes was a senior co-captain of the 1997 UConn squad that reached the NCAA national championship game.  In her four years as a student-athlete at Connecticut, the Huskies posted a record of 83-14-2, including a school record 23 wins in her senior season.  In addition to the national championship appearance, Barnes’ squads also reached the national semifinals twice (1994, 1997), and qualified for the national quarterfinals every season.  As a senior she was named to the All-Big East Second Team, and was selected by her teammates as a co-MVP.  A stellar student, the sociology major was enrolled in the Honor's Program and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in May of 1998.  She remained at UConn for graduate school, and completed her master's degree in the sociology department with a dual emphasis on social psychology and women in sports in1999.