Putnam City North Soccer Coach Wins Regional Honor Putnam City North High School social studies teacher and boys’ soccer coach Tom Pecore has been named 2010 Region VI Boys High School Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Region VI is comprised of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
“Coach Tom Pecore is a passionate and dedicated teacher and coach. He teaches life lessons in the classroom and on the soccer field. He is a terrific male role model for many young men who may not have a father or male guardian in their lives,” says Dr. Brian Chastain, Putnam City North principal.
The Putnam City North boys’ soccer team won 14 and lost 2 in the spring of 2010, earning the district championship before ending their season in the state quarterfinals. Early in the year the team won the 2010 Southern Invitational in Huntsville, Ala. The team was ranked number one in the nation by the NSCAA for three weeks and ranked in the top 20 for five weeks. ESPN had the team ranked as high as fifth in the nation, and also ranked two Putnam City North students among the top 20 players in Oklahoma.
At season’s end, three players received all-state honors, seven were named all-district and six won all-conference honors. In May, 10 players signed national letters of intent to play at the college level.
As usual, the team showed high character, too. The team won an All–State Academic Achievement Team Award for a team grade point average above 3.50. Not one varsity or junior varsity player was ever academically ineligible during the 2009/2010 academic school year, and no player on the team received a single red card during the season.
In 2008 Pecore was as one of seven coaches in the nation to be named winner of a Positive Coaching Alliance National Youth Sports Award. Award winners strive to win while using sports to teach life lessons. Pecore was also named by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and Adidas as the 2007 State Boys Coach of the Year for Oklahoma Large Schools.
Over the course of his career, Pecore has rung up a record of 185 wins, 38 losses and 3 ties. Since 2000, 64 former players have gone on to play college soccer; one has played in the MLS and one in Europe. |