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

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, where he attended

MacMurray College MacMurray College was a private college in Jacksonville, Illinois. 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 Illinois Confer ...

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting o ...

. After finishing college at MacMurray, with a

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

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 university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

(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 a ...

, 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 (T ...

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 most recently served as the head coach of Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew from 2019 to 2022. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 201 ...

and the

Akron Zips men's soccer The Akron Zips men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of Akron. The team is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Mid-American Conference through the 2022 season, after which i ...

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 The 2010 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament was a tournament of 48 collegiate soccer teams who played for the NCAA Championship in soccer. The semifinals and final were held at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, California. All the other games ...

, 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 The VCU Rams men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Virginia Commonwealth University, an NCAA Division I member school located in the state's capital of Richmond. The team is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Since ...

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

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

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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 soccer players 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