Emily Scheese Hired as Head Women's Soccer Coach
Vallejo, Calif. – September, 28 – California State University Maritime Academy has named Emily Scheese as the first ever head coach of its Women's Soccer Program. Scheese comes to the Keelhaulers from UC Santa Cruz where she was the Division III Association of Independents' Coach of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
"I am pleased to announce Emily Scheese as our first Head Women's Soccer Coach at the Cal Maritime," Athletic Director Marv Christopher said. "Emily has an excellent coaching background at the intercollegiate level in the Bay Area. She brings the knowledge, experience and familiarity of the Bay Area to be able to recruit student athletes."
Her 2016-17 team went 6-11-1 last season and qualified for the NCAA D-III playoffs due to its strength of schedule. She spent two seasons as an assistant with the Banana Slugs before becoming the head coach from 2012 to 2017.
"I am ecstatic to be selected as the first women's soccer coach at Cal Maritime," Scheese said. "This is an exciting opportunity for the core group of diverse women already on campus waiting to play soccer and formally represent Cal Maritime on the intercollegiate stage. Cal Maritime is increasing its overall women's population, and I believe the addition of women's soccer will shed new light and interest into the strong academic programs at Cal Maritime. It's also an exciting opportunity for more women soccer players to find a home playing in the Bay Area and in northern California in general."
The women's soccer program will operate as a club team in 2017-18, and then move up to the intercollegiate level next year.
"Cal Maritime is looking to recruit a strong core of women soccer players that are able to provide a competitive student athlete experience in the Cal Pac Conference," Christopher said. "We hope to be able to provide current and future women student athletes with an opportunity to play soccer at higher level, along with the academic and leadership values that are inherit at Cal Maritime."
Scheese is eager to begin recruiting and find students that fit the Cal Maritime mold.
"I will certainly be out on the road recruiting to seek out female players that fit the academic niche of the Cal Maritime campus that also have the drive to shape the program for years to come," Scheese said. "The small-college element of the Academy – even though it is a member of the larger CSU system – and the tight-knit group of students on campus in general, make this a place in which athletics can be one of the many positive elements of the larger body of student life."
Under her watch the Banana Slugs won the Great South Athletic Conference in 2015 and advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament in 2015 and 2016. She also won the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's Team Scholar Award with a cumulative GPA of 3.35—the highest in the UC system from 2012 to 2016.
Scheese is aware of the challenges of starting a program from scratch and embraces the opportunity.
"Starting a new intercollegiate program is never easy, but I am motivated by the challenges ahead," Scheese said. "It's great to begin something from scratch and be able to shape and mold the values you believe in as a coach for your players and recruit players that share that vision. In the first couple of seasons in the NAIA Cal Pac Conference, we can only hope that the scoreboard will reflect positive outcomes, and we will work towards them tirelessly."
Scheese's UC Santa Cruz teams featured the Association of D-III Independents Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2016, and the GSAC Tournament MVP and four All-Tournament Team selections in 2015.
Her UCSC teams also featured two NSCAA D-III All-West Region Team selections, 10 NSCAA D-III Scholar All-West Region Team selections, and six Great South Athletic Conference All-Scholar Team selections.
"Instilling team values in leadership, accountability to your team, a positive and competitive work ethic, perseverance in the face of adversity, and self-growth are all elements you can build upon as a team no matter the record," Scheese said. "The values the Corps of Cadets seek to uphold in their daily lives as students on campus at Cal Maritime can only enhance the teamwork required to be successful on the field as well."
Scheese is also a coach with Global Premier Soccer's Almaden FC. She served as Co-Director for Nike Soccer's US Sports Camps from 2012-2017. Scheese was also instrumental in community outreach in working with the Aptos Soccer Club in south Santa Cruz County.
Born in Torrance, California, Scheese grew up in South Bay Los Angeles, and attended Bishop Montgomery High School. She was on the CIF-winning girls' soccer team in 1994 and named Most Valuable Defensive Player and First Team Del Rey League in her senior year in 1996.
"Cal Maritime has made women's sports a priority," Scheese said. "The promotion of the growth of athletics on campus is a larger strategic goal reflected in the university's support of the two new full-time women's head coach positions in soccer and basketball and with the start of our new SID. These are exciting developments on a campus that wants to see the growth of their athletics programs at the heart of the student-life experience."
Scheese attended UC San Diego and received her BA in Literature and minor in Critical Gender Studies. In her final year at UCSD, Scheese won the departmental award for the best senior honors thesis in 2000. While at UC San Diego, Scheese was a member of the women's soccer team that garnered three NCAA Division III national titles and held an unprecedented record of 72-7-3.
Scheese earned a Ph.D. in literature from UC Santa Cruz in 2012. She taught several courses in Postcolonial Literatures, Women's Caribbean Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition for the Writing Department while at UC Santa Cruz.