Dan Birkey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dan Birkey | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Birkey | |
| Date of birth | December 10, 1957 | |
| Place of birth | Columbia, South Carolina, United States | |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1985-1987 1988-current 1996 |
Portland Community College men's team Concordia University, Portland men's team Cascade Surge USISL |
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Daniel Birkey (born 10 December 1957 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American soccer coach, and was a collegiate and professional footballer. He is the head men's soccer coach at Concordia University, Portland, Oregon.
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[edit] Biography and Playing Career
Birkey spent much of his youth in northern California, and moved to Sumner, Washington, during high school. He was a state championship basketball player there, but discovered and fell in love with soccer in 1971 when saw an acquaintance juggling a soccerball with his feet. He played club and high school soccer in Tacoma under German coach Yontz Miller. Birkey later traveled through Central America playing and learning the game.
The son of conservative working class parents, Birkey was asked to choose from among a small handful of Christian colleges after high school. Of those choices, only Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon, had a men's soccer program at that time and Birkey found the choice obvious. He attended there one year, received All-Region status and in 1977 was recruited to Warner Pacific College under Ethiopian coach Abraham Demissie and Dr.Brian W. Bergemann. While captaining the Warner team, Birkey set several school records and was sixth in the nation in scoring. In 1979, Birkey graduated as a West Coast All-Star and left for South America the following summer. He taught physical education and coached soccer at Christiansen Academy in Rubio, Venezuela, while playing several seasons as a striker for Zulia FC and the prestigious Deportivo Táchira soccer club. As an American international, Birkey stood out on and off the pitch in Venezuela, earning him the nickname "El Torito Blanco" among local soccer fanatics for his relentless work ethic and tenacious style of play.
[edit] Coaching career
After returning to Oregon from South America, Birkey became limited as a player due to an on-going knee problem and thus began his coaching career at Columbia High School. Birkey had played under the late Clive Charles and was invited to coach with him at the club level. It was Birkey's professional relationship with Charles that set the model for much of his coaching philosophy. In 1985 he began coaching at the collegiate level at Portland Community College while working in Sports Medicine. After earning his Master's Degree in Kinesiology from Portland State in 1986, he began coaching at Concordia University, Portland in 1988. Since that time, he has become most widely known for the prolific success of Concordia men's soccer.
In 1992, he led the Concordia Cavaliers to a NAIA District Championship and into the finals of the NCCAA national tournament that same year. The Concordia soccer team has become a Cascade Conference power with NAIA regional tournament appearances in 12 of the past 15 years, and a top-20 national ranking in 13 of those years. Their highest ranking is fifth nationally. He directed Concordia to regional championships and national tournament berths in 1999, 2005, and 2006. In 2000, Birkey was named to the Cascade Conference Coaches Hall of Fame after receiving numerous district, conference, and regional Coach of the Year awards. Birkey has amassed over 265 Wins and a .667 winning percentage at Concordia. He has earned 14 championships during that time, including the last six Cascade Collegiate Conference championships and eight out of the last ten. In 2007, Birkey led the Cavs to their tenth-straight regional tournament appearance after capturing the conference regular season title.
He served as interim Athletic Director at Concordia in the mid 1990's and continues now as a professor in the Health & Physical Education Department teaching Kinesiology and Coaching Science courses. He was hired in 1996 as the head coach for the Cascade Surge, a professional team in the USISL. Birkey directs the highly successful Concordia Soccer Camps attracting over 700 young soccer players each summer. He also served six years as the conference chairman for men’s soccer and was the regional chair for men’s soccer from 2001-04.
Birkey has continued to develop in his coaching education by numerous appointments and visitations in the professional ranks. He has coached in Costa Rica, Trinidad, Antigua, and held recent staff visitations in the English Premiership with Portsmouth Football Club. [1]
