Men's Soccer

 

Head Coach Reid Ayers

To contact Reid Ayers, please call him in his office at 440-826-3839 or e-mail him at rayers@bw.edu.

Reid Ayers is the winningest men's soccer coach in the history of Baldwin-Wallace College.  Coach Ayers and his outstanding coaching staff have worked hard to develop the Yellow Jacket program into one of the best in the prestigious Ohio Athletic Conference. His long-term goal is to lead the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA Division III National title.

Coach Ayers is the College’s first full-time head coach and enters his 11th season in 2012.  As men's coach, he has a 120-65-15 career coaching mark. He led his team to a school-record 16 victories this past season, 14 wins in 2004 and 2005 and 13 in 2006 and 2009 and 12 wins in 2008 and 2010. He also has led his team to a spot in the OAC Tournament in six of the last eight years and the OAC Semifinals in each of the past three seasons. Coach Ayers lead the Yellow Jackets to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament this past fall.

Reid Ayer's Numbers

Men's Record at B-W:

120-65-15 (.638)
Men's Career Record: 166-99-28 (.614)

Men's OAC Record at B-W:

43-36-11 (.539)
Overall  Men's OAC Record: 52-44-12 (.518)
B-W Overall Record:
(Men's & Women's)
211-156-32 (.569)

B-W OAC Record:
(Men's & Women's)

77-81-22 (.489)

Years at B-W:

Ten
OAC Tournament Appearances
2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011
NCAA Tournament Appearances 2011
Career Record:
(Men's and Women's)
291-237-53 (.546)
Career OAC Record:
(Men's and Women's)
86-107-23 (.451)

In 2008, Ayers led his team to its highest-ever ranking by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) when it was tabbed as high as seventh nationally in Division III.  His team finished with a solid, 12-6-1 overall record.  In 2006 and 2011 Ayers' teams were ranked as high as 10th by the NSCAA.

“Our long-term goals are to win OAC regular season and OAC Tournament titles, earn the OAC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Tournament and win a national title,” said Ayers. “We look forward to working toward achieving our goals.”

But that is just a part of the reason why the B-W program is on the right track toward even more success. Ayers’ team has earned recognition five consecutive years for Team Academic Achievement and was awarded the Team Ethics Award of Merit by the NSCAA in 2006.

“We want each student-athlete to develop both as a student and athlete to the best of his ability,” said Ayers. “We want strong students who seek to excel academically and yearn to compete athletically in a very strong Division III conference and against top-flight non-league competition.  We want soccer to be goal-oriented, competitive and rewarding.”

Ayers holds his National “A” and National Youth Licenses from the United States Soccer Federation. He is a member of the Region II Olympic Development Staff, where he assesses and trains the elite players from 13 different states. Ayers has served as a regional age group head coach for the past three years and had the distinction of being named to the U.S. Soccer U14 National Identification Camp Staff in 2008. In addition, he was recently appointed to the United States Developement Academy Scouting Staff where he helps select players for inclusion into the country's youth national teams.  Also, he is a member of the Ohio Youth Soccer Association North State Coaching Staff, where he is an age group coach in the Olympic Development Program, a state coaching license instructor and directs a state sponsored Center of Excellence. His ODP teams have won one regional championship in addition to finishing runner-up three times over the past eight years.
 
Prior to B-W, Ayers served as an assistant coach to OAC-rival Mount Union College in 2001 and is no stranger to soccer in Ohio. He previously coached in both the men’s and women’s programs at Ashland University (2000-2001) and Hiram College (1997-2000). A part of Ohio’s college soccer scene for the past 11 years, he has been a part of five conference championship teams and two teams that have advanced to the NCAA Division II or III National Tournament.

Also a prominent figure in the club soccer scene, Ayers has led teams to championships in the Adidas Warrior Classic, Jarosi Memorial, Mid-American Soccer Classic, Crossroads Classic and Adidas Charlotte Showcase. He also had a third place finish in the USA Cup and made quarterfinal international appearances in the Gothia Cup, Dana Cup and the Manchester Soccer Festival.

In 2002, Ayers completed his Masters of Arts degree from Kent State University in Sport and Recreation Management. A 1988 graduate of Hiram College, he was team captain his junior and senior seasons and earned Most Valuable Player honors as a senior.  A three-time All-Presidents Conference performer, Ayers is amongst the Hiram College all-time leaders in career and season assists. He holds the distinction of starting every game in his college career. 

Ayers and his wife, Lisa, reside in Canton. 

This page was last updated on November 28, 2011.

 

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