The 2009 season marks Neil Sedgwick’s sixth year as head coach of the Montana women’s soccer program. Through his first five seasons, Sedgwick has compiled a record of 30-52-9, with a 12-16-5 record in Big Sky Conference matches. He has guided the Grizzlies to the four-team Big Sky Conference tournament in three of his first five seasons.
Sedgwick, who coached at North Dakota in 1999 and 2000, is in his eighth year as a US collegiate head coach. He has a career record of 49-67-9.
Sedgwick led Montana to a tie for fourth in the Big Sky Conference in 2008 and the No. 4 seed at the league’s post-season tournament.
The Grizzlies opened the season with three wins through their first 11 matches, though five of the season’s first eight matches came against teams that would advance to the 2008 NCAA College Cup: Washington State, Minnesota, Washington, Denver and UC Santa Barbara.
Montana turned things around in Big Sky Conference play, going 3-3-1. The Grizzlies dropped their Big Sky tournament semifinal match at Weber State, the tournament’s top seed, 1-0.
Montana also made Big Sky tournament appearances in 2004, Sedgwick’s first year, and 2006.
In 2004 the Grizzlies downed Eastern Washington, 2-1, in the semifinals before falling to Weber State, 1-0, in the championship match. In 2006 Montana tied Sacramento State in the semifinals, 1-1, before falling in a shootout.
In five seasons, Sedgwick has coached 11 first-team All-Big Sky Conference selections, nine second-team picks and 17 honorable mention players. Montana has also produced 38 Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections during Sedgwick’s tenure.
Most recently, Sedgwick coached Sara Aspinwall and Sara Campbell to first-team honors in 2008.
The Grizzlies had the Big Sky’s Offensive MVP in both 2004 and ’06 in Lindsay Winans, the 2004 Defensive MVP in Wendy Stuker and the 2006 Top Newcomer in Grace Harris.
A native of Sackville, Nova Scotia, Sedgwick has been coaching soccer since 1988. After stints as an assistant coach, Sedgwick got his first head coaching position at King's College in Halifiax, Nova Scotia, where he coached in 1992 and ’93.
In 1996 Sedgwick took an assistant coaching position at Dalhousie University in Halifax, where he had played collegiately in the early ‘90s. At DU, Sedgwick coached under Neil Turnbull, then the head coach of the Canadian national team. The position allowed Sedgwick to work on the national team staff for the next three years.
In 1997 Sedgwick moved west to British Columbia, where he worked in player development and as an assistant at Malaspina University in Nanaimo.
Sedgwick began his American coaching career in 1999 when he was hired to start the women's soccer program at North Dakota. In the program's first season, the Fighting Sioux went 7-9. UND made additional strides in 2000, going 12-6.
Sedgwick joined the Southern California staff in 2001 as associate head coach. In his three seasons, the Women of Troy posted a record of 30-23-9 and went to three NCAA tournaments.
In addition to his extensive coaching experience, Sedgwick also had an impressive career as a player. He competed collegiately for both Saint Mary's (1989) and Dalhousie (1991-92), played professionally in Canada for three seasons (1990-92), then represented Canada at the 1993 World University Games.
Sedgwick graduated from Dalhousie in 1995 with degrees in education and physical education. He received a master's degree in coaching studies from the University of Victoria in 2001.
Sedgwick holds a Level 5A license, the highest level of certification from the Canadian Soccer Association. He earned his 'A' license from the United States Soccer Federation in 2001.
In 1996 Sedgwick graduated from Canada's National Coaching Institute with a diploma in the methodology of high performance coaching.
Sedgwick and his wife, Riki, have a son, Jamie.