The 2010 season marks Neil Sedgwick’s seventh year as head coach of the University of Montana women’s soccer program. Sedgwick, who coached at North Dakota in 1999 and 2000, is in his ninth year as a U.S. collegiate head coach.
He spent three seasons as associate head coach at USC in between head coaching stints.
Through his first six seasons with the Grizzlies, Sedgwick has compiled an overall record of 34-65-10 and a Big Sky Conference mark of 14-20-6 and led Montana to three Big Sky tournaments.
Sedgwick has an eight-year career record of 53-80-10.
Sedgwick led Montana to the four-team Big Sky Conference tournament in 2004, ’06 and ’08. His first team in 2004 entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed and upset No. 2 Eastern Washington in the semifinals before falling 1-0 to Weber State in the championship match.
Montana lost semifinal games in both 2006 and ’08. As the No. 2 seed in 2006, the Grizzlies lost in a shootout to No. 3 Sacramento State after playing to a 1-1 draw. In 2008, No. 4 Montana lost a 1-0 decision to Weber State.
Sedgwick has produced 11 first-team and 11 second-team All-Big Sky Conference selections through his first six seasons. Most recently Frankie Brady and Lauren Costa earned second-team honors following the 2009 season.
Lindsay Winans was voted the Big Sky’s Offensive MVP in both 2004 and ’06 and earned the league’s Golden Boot Award in 2006 after leading the Big Sky in scoring with four goals and two assists in seven conference matches.
Sedgwick coached Wendy Stuker to 2004 Defensive MVP honors and Grace Harris to 2006 Top Newcomer accolades.
Sedgwick’s teams have excelled in the classroom. In six seasons, the Grizzlies have had 48 Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections.
His 2009 team had 3.30 grade point averages for both the 2009 fall and 2010 spring semesters and concluded the 2009-10 academic year with a sparkling 3.24 cumulative GPA, one of the highest in the department.
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) and 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.
Sedgwick’s Record at Montana
2004: 8-8-2 (3-2-1 BSC) ... Advanced to Big Sky tournament championship match
2005: 3-13-1 (1-5-0 BSC)
2006: 10-8-2 (4-2-1 BSC) ... Advanced to Big Sky tournament semifinals
2007: 3-12-2 (1-4-2 BSC)
2008: 6-11-2 (3-3-1 BSC) ... Advanced to Big Sky tournament semifinals
2009: 4-13-1 (2-4-1 BSC)