On Friday, the New England Soccer Hall of Fame announced that Boston University women’s soccer coach Nancy Feldman is on the list of inductees for its class of 2015.
“[Coaching] at Boston University certainly is the icing on the cake,” Feldman said. “It was a perfect match for me. It was where I grew up. I’m a New Englander through and through, and BU was the perfect place to land. Their student-athlete model is exactly what I believe in. They support the program, so we’re able to be successful. You’re not successful by yourself, so it’s definitely the organizations that I’ve been a part of have been a big reason.”
Feldman is currently in her 21st season with the Terriers, achieving a 275-121-40 record while at BU. Her team has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 12 times, including the past two years. The Terriers under Feldman have also won 11 conference regular-season titles and 11 conference tournament titles, most recently the Patriot League Tournament in 2014.
Feldman has been named conference Coach of the Year 10 times, and the NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year twice. BU has had double-digit wins in 20 of Feldman’s 21 seasons.
Before coming to BU, Feldman graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (‘83) with a degree in public health and later received her master’s in exercise and sport studies from Smith College (‘88).
Feldman then became the head coach of both the women’s soccer and women’s basketball teams at Plymouth State University, where she stayed for five years until she went to BU in 1995. Her soccer squad earned an overall record of 75-9-7 and won the New England Regional Championship twice.
Before the Terriers moved to the Patriot League in 2013, Feldman and her coaching staff won the America East Championship and America East Coaching Staff of the Year nine times each. The Terriers also had five perfect seasons in America East conference play.
During her time at BU, Feldman has coached 109 All-Conference athletes and 25 All-Rookie honorees, along with eight Defenders of the Year, seven Midfielders of the Year, five Rookies of the Year, four Goalkeepers of the Year, three Strikers of the Year and three Offensive Players of the Year.
“Absolutely, it’s the athletes that I worked with,” Feldman said. “I’ve had unbelievable athletes over the years and great people and players. Now I have a lot of them as friends, which is really cool, to see them post-graduation and in careers doing things they love and having families and having strong friendships with a lot of them.”
Feldman is the only NCAA head coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. Eight other nominees were selected, including Portugal star Eusébio da Silva Ferreira and former All-American Fred Pereira.
“Hopefully I have a long way to go still,” Feldman said, “but it’s been a really satisfying ride so far, and it’s a great honor to be on the list.”
Nick is currently writing for the Boston Hockey Blog. In the past, he has served as associate sports editor, and has covered men's and women's cross-country, women's soccer, men's basketball, and men's lacrosse for the Daily Free Press. You can keep track of Nick's exciting life by following him on Twitter at @nikfraz14
