Abstract
The growth of competitive collegiate women’s sports and specifically, women’s soccer, in the collegiate, professional, and national realms has not been matched by research in the field. Currently, there are courses, conventions, and literature about all different aspects of soccer, but the field of collegiate coaching is missing detailed education about the holistic influences and aspects of creating a winning women’s collegiate soccer program. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to discover which major factors influence the effectiveness of a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women’s soccer program to consistently win. Data and analysis yielded four major factors. The first major factor is the university which includes four aspects: financial support, supportive management and collaborative colleagues, standard of excellence, and university reputation. The second major factor is recruiting, which includes two aspects: talent and right-fit. The third major factor is development, which includes four aspects: player development, person development, coach development, and team development. The fourth major factor is head coach drive which has three aspects: head coach evolution, head coach confidence, head coach fear of failure. Results produced practical application for current collegiate women’s soccer coaches to analyze strengths and weaknesses within their programs.