Coaches Awards
Learn more about Coaching Awards
Coaches Awards Categories
Award Recipients#
Established in 1996, the Olympic Coach of the Year is presented to a coach of an elite-level club, collegiate or national-level team, or the coach of an elite athlete who competes at the highest level of their sport. Previously titled the National Coach of the Year award, this was added to the Team USA Awards program in 2017 and renamed the Olympic Coach of the Year award. In years in which the Olympic and Paralympic Games are contested, an Olympic coach is honored as part of the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of Games.
- 1996 Tara VanDerveer, U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Coach
- 1997 Frank Carroll, Olympic Figure Skating Coach, Coach of Michelle Kwan
- 1998 Ben Smith, U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Coach
- 1999 Chris Carmichael, Cycling Coach, Coach of Lance Armstrong
- 2000 Richard Quick, U.S. Olympic Women’s Swimming Coach
- 2001-02 Pete del’Giudice, U.S. Snowboarding Coach
- 2003 Lloyd Woodhouse, USA Shooting National Team Coach
- 2004 Mike Candrea, USA Softball Women’s National Team Coach
- 2005 Eddie Reese, USA Swimming Men’s National Team Coach
- 2006 Bud Keene, U.S. Snowboarding Coach
- 2007 Guy Baker, USA Water Polo National Team Coach
- 2008 Hugh McCutcheon, USA Men’s Volleyball National Team Coach
- 2009 Bob Bradley, U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team Coach
- 2010 Brian Shimer, U.S. Men’s Bobsled Head Coach
- 2011 Rick Bower, U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Coach
- 2012 Adam Krikorian, U.S. Women’s National Water Polo Team Coach
- 2013 Erik Flora, Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Club head coach
- 2014 Skogen Sprang, U.S. Slopestyle Skiing Team head coach
2015 Craig Parnham, U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey Team head coach
- 2016 Geno Auriemma, U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team head coachAimee Boorman, U.S. Olympic Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Team coach
- 2017 Bill Zadick, U.S. Men’s Freestyle World Wrestling Team coach
- 2018 Jason Cork, U.S. National Cross-Country Ski Team coach
- 2019 KiSik Lee, U.S. Olympic Archery coach
- 2020 Greg Massialas, USA Fencing
- 2021 Karch Kiraly, USA Volleyball
- 2022 Bobby Kersee, USA Track & Field
Established in 2004, the Paralympic Coach of the Year is presented to a coach of an elite-level club, collegiate or national-level team, or the coach of an elite athlete who competes at the highest level of their sport. Previously titled the Paralympic National Coach of the Year award, this was added to the Team USA Awards program in 2017 and renamed the Paralympic Coach of the Year award. In years in which the Olympic and Paralympic Games are contested, a Paralympic coach is honored as part of the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of Games.
- 2004 Mike Hulett, USA Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team Coach
- 2005 Randi Smith, U.S. Paralympic Archery Team Head Coach
- 2006 Julie O’Neill, U.S. Paralympic Swim Team Head Coach
- 2007 Adam Bleakney, U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Track Coach
- 2008 Ken Armbruster, U.S. Paralympic Women’s Goalball Head Coach
- 2009 Scott Moore, Denver Judo Coach
- 2010 Ray Watkins, 2010 U.S. Paralympic Alpine Ski Team
- 2011 Dave Denniston, U.S. Paralympic Swimming Head Coach
- 2012 Tom Franke, U.S. Paralympic Swimming Head Coach
- 2013 Adam Bleakney, U.S. Paralympic Track & Field coach
- 2014 Brian Loeffler, Swimming, U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team coach
- 2015 John Devorss, Salem Tennis and Swim Club
- 2016 Adam Bleakney, U.S. Paralympic Track and Field coach
- 2017 Eileen Carey, U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing coach
- 2018 Gary Colliander, U.S.Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team coach
- 2019 Wesley Johnson, U.S. Paratriathlon coach
- 2020 Michel Assouline, US Equestrian Federation
- 2021 Nathan Manley, U.S. Paralympic Swimming
- 2022 David Hoff, USA Hockey
Established in 1996, the Developmental Coach of the Year is presented to a coach at the youth club, high school or junior level, or a coach who is directly responsible for training athletes to reach the junior and/or elite level.
- 1996 Jeff Shaffer, University of Southern California
- 1997 Dianne Holum, Speedskating
- 1998 Mike Stafford, Millvale Golden Gloves Gym
- 1999 Tom Healy, Northbrook (Ill.) Speedskating Club
- 2000 Fred Zimny, USA Luge
- 2001-02 Mike Eaves, U.S. National Under-18 Hockey Team
- 2003 Bob Fraley, Fresno State University Track & Field
- 2004 Dwayne Miller, Norfolk Real Deal Track Club
- 2005 Tammy Gambill, U.S. Figure Skating
- 2006 Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson, U.S. Figure Skating
- 2007 Paul Yetter, USA Swimming
- 2008 Rajul Sheth, Table Tennis
- 2009 John Wingfield, Director and Head Coach of USA Diving National Training Center
- 2010 Michael Nyitray, Bowling
- 2011 James Hrbek, USA Judo
- 2012 Michael Nyitray, United States Bowling Congress
- 2013 Kathleen Johnston, USA Triathlon
- 2014 George Ryals, Archery Learning Center
- 2015 Brett Wolf, Menomonee Judo Club
- 2016 Kim Zmeskal-Burdette, USA Gymnastics
- 2017 no recipient selected
- 2018 Leandro Spina, US Sailing
- 2019 BethAnn Chamberlain, Para Nordic Skiing
- 2020 Dana Skelton, USA Swimming
- 2021 Ron Aitken, USA Swimming
- 2022. Mike Peplinski, USA Curling
Established in 2003, the Volunteer Coach of the Year is presented to a coach who does not receive payment in any form for their involvement in coaching at any level.
- 2003 Carol Hardemon, Metro Dade Track Club
- 2004 Barry Hunter, Washington, D.C. Boxing Coach
- 2005 Cindi Hart, IndySpeed Sport Club Head Coach
- 2006 Booker Woods, LA JETS Head Coach
- 2007 Sherman Nelson, USA Taekwondo Coach
- 2008 Rita Gladstone, Area Tennis League Coordinator
- 2009 Brian McCutcheon, Taekwondo Coach and Oahu Taekwondo Center Instructor
- 2010 Dave Farmer, Aurora (Colo.) Saracens Rugby Club Coach
- 2011 Tom Waqa, Brigham Young University Rugby Coach
- 2012 Don Showalter, USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Coach
- 2013 Bienvenido “Benny” Roman, USA Boxing Training Camp coach
- 2014 Kathleen Stevenson, Oklahoma Storm Junior Olympic Archer Development Team coach
- 2015 Carl Cepuran, Glen Ellyn Speedskating
- 2016 Tom Miller, Adirondack Speedskating Club
- 2017 No recipient selected
- 2018 Mary Hodge, USA Para Powerlifting
- 2019 Daniel Greene, US Speedskating
- 2020 Cherise Wilkins, US Speedskating
- 2021 Mary Murphy, US Speedskating
- 2022. Jacob Roberts, US Speedskating
Established in 2004, the Doc Counsilman Science Award recognizes a coach who utilizes scientific techniques and equipment as an integral part of their coaching methods or has created innovative ways to use sport science.
- 2004 Joe Vigil, Track & Field
- 2005 Dr. Kyle Pierce, USA Weightlifting
- 2006 Kate Arbour, U.S. Figure Skating
- 2007 Sean O’Neill, U.S. Paralympics Table Tennis
- 2008 Dave Bennett, USA Wrestling
- 2009 Heidi Thibert, U.S. Figure Skating and Edora Pool and Ice Center Coach
- 2010 Dr. Grant Schaffner, Skeleton
- 2011 Neal Henderson, USA Cycling - More
- 2012 Doug Eng, U.S. Tennis Association - More
- 2013 Gordon Uehling III, U.S. Tennis Association - More
- 2014 Dave Hamilton, U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey Team director of performance science
- 2015 Warren Pretorius, Tennis Analytics
- 2016 Derek Davis, USA Archery
- 2017 No recipient selected
- 2018 Ingmar Jungnickel, US Speedskating
- 2019 Andrew Stuart, US Speedskating
- 2020 Jeff Lackie, U.S. Ski & Snowboard
- 2021 Randy Wilber, USA Track and Field
- 2022 Tom West, US Rowing
The USOPC is proud to recognize the efforts of America’s finest coaches with the Order of Ikkos. The medallion is a symbol of excellence in coaching as represented by athletes’ achievement as an Olympic or Paralympic Medalist.
It is not tradition for the International Olympic Committee to recognize coaches for medal-winning performances at the Games. The USOPC’s Order of Ikkos medal allows for each U.S. Olympic or Paralympic medalist to acknowledge one coach for their leadership in achieving world-class success. Each medal is uniquely handcrafted to reflect the Olympic and Paralympic Games for that year.
The Order of Ikkos medal was established prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and inspired by Ikkos – the first recorded Olympic coach in Ancient Greece. He became renowned for his coaching ability after leading two Tarentine athletes to gold medals in Pentathlon.
The lists below represent countless hours of training America’s athletes to achieve the dream of an Olympic medal.
Order of Ikkos Honor Roll:
- Tokyo 2020: Olympic and Paralympic honorees
- PyeongChang 2018: Olympic and Paralympic honorees
Rio 2016: Olympic and Paralympic honorees
- Sochi 2014: Olympic and Paralympic honorees
- London 2012: Olympic and Paralympic honorees
- Vancouver 2010: Olympic and Paralympic honorees
- Beijing 2008: Olympic and Paralympic honorees
Established in 2019, the College Coach of the Year is presented to a coach who coaches at the NCAA level.
- 2019 Karen Shelton, field hockey head coach, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- 2020 John Tanner, USA Water Polo
- 2021 Todd DeSorbo, USA Swimming
- 2022 Ryan Martin, National Wheelchair Basketball Association
Established in 2019, the Service Provider of the Year is presented to an NGB/HPMO affiliated service provider such as a strength and conditioning coach, physical therapist, sport psychologist, dietician, or other that has made an impact in their NGB.
- 2019 Paul Robbins, United States Tennis Association
- 2020 Gillian Bower, U.S. Ski & Snowboard
- 2021 Kara Kessans, USA Volleyball
Established in 2019, the Coach Educator of the Year is presented to a Coach Educator or ADM Sport Educator that has made an impact in the Coaching Education space.
- 2019 Ken Martel, USA Hockey
- 2020 Chris Packert, U.S. Ski & Snowboard
- 2021 Phil Edwards, USA Field Hockey
- 2022 Dr. Christine Brooks, USA Track & Field
Awards
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee distributes a variety of awards to honor extraordinary achievements
Community Awards
Learn more about Community Awards
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Awards
About the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion AwardsThe USOPC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Awards recognize the work of National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for progress on their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Our diversity, equity & inclu...
