Hope Clark Selected as Daytona State Women’s Soccer Coach

Hope Clark Selected as Daytona State Women’s Soccer Coach
Clark brings 20 years of coaching experience to Falcons’ nationally ranked program 

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. (April 7, 2021) – Daytona State College has selected Hope Clark as its new head women’s soccer coach. Clark brings 20 years of coaching experience to Daytona State, including 12 as a head coach at the college level. She officially joins the Falcons on June 1.

“I am incredibly grateful to President Tom LoBasso and Robin Barr (Interim Director of Athletics) for giving me this opportunity to lead the Daytona State College women's soccer program and I would like to thank the search committee for their tireless efforts in this process,” said Clark. “My family and I are excited about beginning this next chapter in our lives and we are looking forward to becoming an integral part of this excellent institution and community.”

Clark, who has 113 career wins on her college coaching record, joins Daytona State from Young Harris College in Georgia where she spent two years as Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance/Senior Woman Administrator. In that role she was responsible for department control and oversight of athletic compliance, provided sport oversight for seven sports, and served as campus moderator and conference liaison for the Mountain Lions’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Prior to joining the administrative staff at Young Harris, Clark was head coach of the Georgia College and State University women’s soccer team from 2010-18, compiling a 78-73-16 record with the NCAA Division II program, which made her the winningest coach in team history. She compiled five 10-win seasons for the Bobcats, also a program record, and her 2013 and 2018 squads reached the Peach Belt Conference Championship game. Those remain the only appearances the Bobcats have made in the conference title game.

During her time at GCSU, Clark had eight all-region selections, including only the program’s second All-American, 2017 Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Amanda Bartholomew. She also coached 14 all-conference performers and had 47 PBC All-Academic selections, two of whom won the PBC Elite 15 Award for the highest cumulative GPA among players at the conference tournament.

Clark’s first head coaching job came at Auburn University-Montgomery where she led the Senators to a 35-22-4 mark from 2007-09. In her final season at AUM, Clark guided the Senators to a 15-5-2 record and the second round of the NAIA National Tournament. She coached seven All-Americans at AUM, led by 3-time winner Amber Elam, six Academic All-Americans, and had 13 all-conference selections.

A native of Louisiana, the former Hope Handley played collegiate soccer as a goalkeeper at Virginia Tech and was a member of the Hokies’ first recruiting class. As a sophomore in 1995, she was named the Hokies’ most valuable player and was named Third Team All-Mid Atlantic Region following a season in which she set the Atlantic-10 Conference single-season record for saves with 179. That made her the first player in program history to earn that honor. She still holds Virginia Tech records for saves in a season and career (341).

After graduating from Virginia Tech, Clark began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at American University before spending two years as an assistant coach at the University of Tampa.

Clark played semi-professional soccer in 2005 and 2006 with the Atlanta Silverbacks in the women’s division of the United Soccer Leagues. She was assistant director of The Last Defense Goalkeeping Academy for eight years and was a staff coach with the Region III Olympic Development Program in both Georgia and Alabama. She holds a United States Soccer Federation National “B” License and a NSCAA Level 1 Goalkeeping Diploma.

“I am excited to get to work and be a part of the Falcon family, with the goal of helping our student-athletes excel academically, athletically and in the community. I will work hard to ensure that our student-athletes graduate with the necessary skills to become tomorrow’s leaders with a sense of civic responsibility.”

Clark earned her bachelor's degree in human nutrition foods and exercise from Virginia Tech and her master's degree in health and fitness management from American University. She has served as an adjunct professor at both American and Auburn-Montgomery in addition to her coaching positions at those universities.

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