Dave Giffard (born August 29, 1975) is an American soccer coach.

Career

Giffard was raised in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, where he attended

MacMurray College MacMurray College was a private college in Jacksonville, Illinois, United States. Its enrollment in fall 2015 was 570. Founded in 1846, the college closed in May 2020. History Although founded in 1846 by a group of Methodist clergymen as the ...

from 1993 to 1997, and played for the school's soccer team as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. After finishing college at MacMurray, with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in physical education, Giffard immediately went into the sport as a coach, coaching at various institutions as an assistant coach or goalkeeping coach for the next 15 years. Following his tenure as an assistant at MacMurray, Giffard was an assistant on the Westminster College Blue Jays, where they achieved their first 12-win season in program history. During his final years at Westminster, Giffard enrolled for postgraduate studies at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

(UAB). While at UAB, Giffard earned his

Master of Arts in Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

, achieving his master's at the end of the 2002–03 academic year. Following his achievement, Giffard joined the

UAB Blazers men's soccer The UAB Blazers men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As of the upcoming 2022 season, the college soccer program competes in the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference ( ...

program as an assistant to Mike Getman. At UAB, Giffard primarily worked as a goalkeeping coach. During his time at UAB, Clint Baumstark became the first goalkeeper at UAB to be capped by the United States U-20 national soccer team. Upon leaving UAB, Giffard served as volunteer for Indiana University before joining

Caleb Porter Caleb Porter (born February 18, 1975) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 2017. He won MLS Cup in 2015 with P ...

and the

Akron Zips men's soccer The Akron Zips men's soccer team is an intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports team of the University of Akron. As of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, the Zips play in the Big East Conference. This move followed Akron's full-ti ...

program. During Giffard's time as an assistant to Porter, the Zips had a 23–1–1 season, and won the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, beating Louisville. Starting in 2010, Giffard earned his first head coaching position in his career, becoming the head coach for the

VCU Rams men's soccer Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968 ...

program. In his three years, Giffard returned the Rams to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004, and had the team nationally ranked for the first time since 2005.

Head coaching record

Honors

* 2× Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer Coach of the Year:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

*http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8500&ATCLID=204863728
VCU Rams bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giffard, Dave 1976 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Akron Zips men's soccer coaches MacMurray Highlanders men's soccer players Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer coaches People from Jacksonville, Illinois Soccer players from Illinois UAB Blazers men's soccer coaches VCU Rams men's soccer coaches Association football goalkeeping coaches