Courtesy: Mississippi State Athletics Sarah Strickland comes to ASU after a successful stint as an assistant coach at Mississippi State.

BOONE, N.C. —Sarah Strickland, a twelve-year coaching veteran at the club, collegiate and national levels, has been hired as the third women’s soccer head coach in Appalachian State University history, director of athletics Charlie Cobb announced on Wednesday.

“I am excited to welcome Coach Strickland to the Appalachian family,” Cobb said. “It’s impossible to overstate how much she impressed everyone that she came in contact with during the interview process. Her energy and enthusiasm is contagious and will take ASU women’s soccer to unprecedented heights.”

“I am really excited about joining the Appalachian State family and am grateful for the confidence Charlie Cobb and (senior woman administrator) Debbie Richardson have shown in me,“ Strickland said. “ASU has a tradition of excellence in both academics and athletics. I am proud to be a Mountaineer and look forward to building a women’s soccer program that will continue the App State winning tradition.”

Strickland most recently was as an assistant coach at Mississippi State, where she served as the program’s recruiting coordinator and goalkeepers’ coach for the past two seasons. She was instrumental in MSU’s turnaround from four-consecutive losing seasons to a 9-8-2 record in 2009, the program’s first winning season in six years. During the successful ‘09 campaign, the Bulldogs set records for consecutive wins (eight) and shutouts (four) and achieved the highest RPI ranking in school history (No. 41). Under Strickland’s tutelage, goalkeeper Taryn Holland ranked second in Southeastern Conference history with 368 career saves and set school records for saves and shutouts.

Prior to her stint in the SEC, Strickland was a well-respected club soccer coach and administrator in Alabama for eight years. During that time, she served as the director of coaching for the Montgomery YMCA Capital City Streaks (2000-04), Girls’ Director of Coaching for the American Soccer Club (2004-06) and Staff Director for the Birmingham United Soccer Association (2006-07).

She began her coaching career on the collegiate level as an assistant coach at Troy in 1998 and served as the program’s interim head coach during the 1999 offseason. From there, she moved on to Auburn University at Montgomery, where she was an assistant on the men’s and women’s staffs from 1999-2000.

On the national level, Strickland is a United States Soccer Federation “B” licensed coach and served on the staff of the U-14 national program in 2001. She also coached on the Alabama Olympic Development Program boys’ and girls’ staffs from 1998-2002 and the Mississippi ODP girls’ staff in 2009.

The former Sarah Churchill was a three-year letterwinner at George Mason, where she helped lead the Patriots to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 1996 and 1997, including a berth in the Sweet 16 in ‘97. She was a three-time Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner’s Academic Award winner and graduated from GMU with a B.A. in psychology in 1998. She earned a M.S. in foundations of education from Troy in 1999. She and her husband, Jimmy (an assistant athletic trainer at Mississippi State) have three children: Kelsey, Bo and Will.

Strickland becomes the third head coach in the 16-year history of ASU’s women’s soccer program. Hallie Briggs led the Mountaineers to a 6-9-4 record as acting head coach in 2009.

“As excited as we are about the arrival of Coach Strickland, I would be remiss if I didn’t praise Hallie Briggs for her contributions as acting head coach,” Cobb said. “Her leadership and professionalism during a time of transition were first-class and I look forward to her continued contributions to the program’s future success.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT SARAH STRICKLAND:
“In the two seasons that Sarah has spent at Mississippi State University, she has not only impacted the student-athletes on the soccer team, but the people at our university. She has been very dedicated to our program and given us 100 percent. I think that she will make a great head coach because of her passion for the game, her knowledge of the game and her desire to teach young people to be the very best that they can be."
— Ann Carr, Senior Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator, Mississippi State

“Sarah was a wonderful addition to our program two years ago and we will miss her greatly. She is a great recruiter and a hard worker. We are delighted for her to receive this opportunity and think that Appalachian State has picked up a fantastic young coach to lead its program into the future.”
— Neil Macdonald, head coach, Mississippi State

“Sarah Strickland will do an outstanding job for Appalachian State. She has boundless energy, an enthusiasm for the game that is truly contagious and will bring an excitement to the program. We congratulate ASU athletics on an excellent hire to lead the Mountaineer program for many years to come.”
— Ray Leone, head coach, Harvard

“Sarah is a vivacious coach who is going to make an immediate impact on the (Appalachian State women’s) soccer program. The Southern Conference coaches better take notice because Appalachian State will become a top contender very soon.”
— Tricia Talliaferro, head coach, Miami (Fla.)