Ben Wade
Coach
Email | 417-328-1739

[Coach Wade's Press Conference Release]

Taking over one of the premier NCAA Division II women's soccer programs, Ben Wade became the seventh head coach for Southwest Baptist University on April 13, 2005.

“After a thorough nation wide search, SBU is excited to announce the hiring of Benjamin Wade. I feel that Ben will bring Christian leadership and build upon an already established program. His past record shows he has been very successful in the coaching arena as well as his personal endeavors," says Director of Athletics Brent Good. “Coach Wade brings outstanding recruiting abilities with him to SBU that include international and national connections. We are looking forward to adding him and his success’ to the SBU family."

>Coming from a very successful junior college, Wade brings experience and knowledge from all the angles of soccer and three different University programs. The past three years, he has been named the Golden Valley Coach of the Year. He has also put his team in the position to make as the best team in the nation the last three years. In 10 years as a coach, he has coached eight all-Americans, 22 academic all-Americans, and been named the California Olympic Development Player Coach.

Ben Wade was was the maestro of the SusanvilleSymphony that he started in 2003.

Wade says, “It has been a goal of mine to come back to a Christian institution because that is very important to me. My life is centered on Christ and I want to be at an institution that has the same core values and beliefs that I do. I was incredibly impressed with Southwest Baptist from the time that they contacted me to the follow up and to how SBU supports the student-athlete. It was very professional and clear that this door was opening up for me to come here."

Starting the Lassen College women’s soccer program from scratch in 2002, Wade has been in California for 10 years. He has a 67-6-1 record at Lassen and is currently the #2 winningest active junior college coach by the NSCAA. Prior to Lassen, he started the women’s soccer programs at Patten University and Simpson University.

He took his first head coaching job at Simpson University (Redding, California) and had to build the program from ground up in 1997. In the only two years he was at SU, he took them to the National Christian College Athletic Association and finished ranked #8 in the nation in their first year and then finished ranked #3 in the nation his second year. He was twice named the NCCAA National Coach of the Year and his team in 1998 was ranked as high as #2 in the nation (NCCAA).

His second stop was a two-year stay at Patten University in Oakland, California from 1999 through 2001. Again, Wade had to build the women’s soccer program from scratch. He coached both the men and women’s teams at Patten and was the conference coach of the year.

“Every single program I have been apart of has had national success and I feel that it will be no different here. I think it can be magnified here in the great conference that SBU plays in. Our goal, ultimately, is to win a national championship and we want to push for the Final Four next year," says Wade. “The established program at Southwest Baptist is one of the reasons why I was attracted to come here. I come from a #3 nationally ranked program and this was a natural fit for me and I am definitely excited about the opportunity. I think this will be a great place to work and the support from the administration, faculty, and staff is dynamite."

Once again, Wade moved onto another challenge in 2002 as he felt called to Lassen College to start their women’s soccer program. In his first year, he went 23-3-0 and lost the Final Eight of the California Community College Tournament, and finished with a #6 national ranking (NSCAA). In only his second season at Lassen, his team came close to being the best team in the nation and in the California Community College system but lost to four-time C.C.C. champion Long Beach. They had a regular season record of 20-0-0, finished the year at 23-1-0, and was ranked #3 in the nation (NSCAA). This past season his team was ranked as high as #3 in the NSCAA Junior College Poll and finished with a #17 ranking and a 19-2-1 record.

Wade graduate from the University of Tennessee in 1993 with a bachelors degree in business marketing. While at Tennessee, he played club soccer and then became an assistant coach for two years (1991-93). He received his master’s of music degree from the University of Nevada in May 2005. In the NSCAA, he has received the Premier, Advanced National, and National Diplomas.

Wade comments, “I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, so this is more my neck of the woods. I have been in California for 13 years and have enjoyed my time there but I am looking forward to coming back close to my roots and be near my family. I like the old fashioned values of the midwest and in the south. There are real, genuine people back here and you don’t find that a lot of times in other states.

On the national level, Wade holds the world record for longest solo kayak expedition that took place in 1996 and in 1988 he was voted among the best young trumpet players in the world. In 1996, he kayaked 6,000 miles on the Pacific Ocean from San Felipe, Mexico, to Colombia, South American.

Working internationally, Wade has done professional internships in England, the West Indies, and Argentina. In 2003, he worked with Enfield Town and the Arsenal FC in London, England. His first international internship came in the summers of 2000 and 2001 with the Cordoba FC in Cordoba, Argentina. In the summer of 2002, he worked with the West Indies National Team.

Wade has done his research on the level of competition in the MIAA and the success the conference has had. This past year, the MIAA put two teams in the NCAA Tournament, in which one was SBU. He knows that he can capitalize on SBU’s current soccer situation and the foundation that has been built.

“I think the MIAA is a great conference and very competitive and I have contacts with players all over the United States and the world that would come here in a heart beat. When they see the facilities and support of the administration they will be amazed. I think this entire environment is going to create success. It is not just the student-athletes out there trying to win the games it is the entire University that is behind them which will propel them to great success," says Wade.

“I like small communities and it is obvious that the community respects and enjoys having Southwest Baptist here. I think the facilities are unbelievable and the Meyer Wellness and Sports Center rivals anything that any NCAA Division II University has. I have been very impressed and had a positive experience," says Wade.