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The Texas State soccer program is entering its ninth year of being a university sport and head coach Kat Conner is still running the show. She has accomplished a lot in her eight years in San Marcos and hopes to carry on the program's winning tradition with the 2007 squad. "This group wants the challenge and wants to play good competition; I believe this team and this next season will help up to be a winning program again," said Conner.
The Bobcats have struggled the past couple of seasons, posting a 9-10 (5-2) record in 2005 and going 7-13-2 (5-4-2) in 2006. The team's average finish during the regular season did not phase Conner and the `Cats, who concluded the 2006 season with a dramatic 1-0 loss to McNeese State in the SLC Tournament final. Three of Conner's players were named to all-conference teams and two landed on the all-academic squad.
The 2006 season also marked another first for Conner, as Texas State finished the season as the No. 30th-ranked team in the country with the best home attendance. The Bobcats averaged 645 fans at 12 home games last season and had the support 7,751 fans at Bobcat Soccer Complex on the year.
Conner's first band of Bobcats in 1999 finished 9-9-3, winning the conference tournament and setting the program's standard for success.
Conner's 2001 'Cats continued the winning tradition posting a school best 14-7 record en route to the SLC regular season and tournament championship. Conner was the first coach from the Southland Conference to take a team to the NCAA tournament.
The following year, Texas State defended its regular season title finishing 9-7-2, before falling 1-0 to SLC Tournament Champion Northwestern State.
In 2004, Conner led the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament for the second time in six years. Texas State finished second behind Stephen F. Austin for the regular season title.
Conner has successfully built a competitive program that plays the best teams in the region. Evidence of that can be found in the success of her players; Conner coached 2001 SLC Player of the Year Reta Derouin (previous assistant coach). Derouin also was named SLC Newcomer of the Year in 2000 under Conner. Former Bobcat Annette Gonzalez also received that award in 2001.
Conner has seen two of her players named Freshman of the Year. Forward Natalie Holder received the honor in 2003 followed by Danielle Holloway in 2004. Holloway also became the first SLC soccer player to be named both Freshman and Player of the Year the same year.
Two of the three players who have been named to the All-Conference First-Team four times have hailed from Conner's teams. Marva Bailey was an All-Conference first-team selection from 1999-2002 and Kendra Kade from 2001-2004.
Along with the championship-caliber program Conner has built on the field, she has also developed championship-quality commitment to her players' education.
"We compete very hard on the field, and with that same intensity in the classroom," Conner said.
Conner's 'Cats were awarded the Emmett Shelton Award for the highest female team GPA for the 2004-05 school year. She also had four players named to the Hibernia Bank/Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. Kade and Jaynee Sherman were honored for the second time. Ashley Brown and Natalie Holder received their first SLC academic honors. Sherman was also honored as soccer's Student-Athlete of the Year.
This past fall, the stellar commitment in the classroom continued with 17 players on the roster carrying a 3.0 grade point average or higher. Kristy Collison, Brown and Jerelyn Lemmie landed on last year's SLC Academic Honor Roll, which brings the running total to 14 Academic All-Americans.
Conner is two-for-two at inaugurating women's soccer programs. She came to Texas State in 1999 from Texas A&M University after helping Aggie head coach G. Guerrieri build a talented and successful soccer program at A&M. Conner was responsible for assisting with recruiting and coaching all phases of the game at A&M, and she was responsible for scheduling, travel, budget, summer camp and monitoring academics.
With Conner's assistance, the Aggies made four NCAA tournament appearances and won one Big 12 Regular Season Title and one Big 12 Tournament Championship.
Conner, who holds a USSF "A" license (the highest license in the federation), began her coaching career at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., after graduating from there in Spring of 1991. She served as the Lutes' defensive coordinator and handled the travel arrangements and recruiting at Pacific Lutheran University.
While coaching at Pacific, Conner helped lead the Lutes to a national championship in 1991 and a runner-up finish in 1992. During both years, the Lutes were Conference Champions.
Conner earned a B.A. in physical education at Pacific Lutheran while enjoying a successful playing career. Conner, an All-American selection in 1990, was a member of a Pacific squad that won the NAIA championship three years in a row and was runner-up the fourth.
As well as coaching at Texas State, Conner has been involved with developing Texas youth soccer. She has been a member of the coaching staff for the Region III Olympic Development Program and serves as the coach for the South Texas U16 team.
In 2005, Conner was appointed to the NCAA soccer rules committee by both the Southland Conference and the NCAA. She will serve on the rules committee until the Fall of 2006.
Conner is a native of Irving, where she graduated from Nimitz HS.
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