Soccer Coaching Staff
Head Coach - Chris LeGates (13th Season, University of Hartford '92)
LEGATES enters his 13th season at the helm of the Blue Jays soccer team. LeGates has led the Blue Jays to an overall record of 96-89-12 (.518) during his tenure including a school-record 14 wins in 2008. LeGates has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Coach of the Year three times including during the 2008 campaign; LeGates is the only current GNAC coach to earn the honor three times.
In 2008, LeGates directed Saint Joseph College to a school-record eight conference wins (8-2-2) en route to an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament bid for the second time in school history. Under Coach LeGates, the Blue Jays have seen unprecedented success over the last decade, posting school-records in nearly every statistical category as his Blue Jays set 12 school-records in 2008.
The fourth soccer coach in school history, 29 Blue Jays have earned All-Conference accolades under LeGates including the 2006 GNAC Rookie of the Year in goalkeeper Cait Witham. Six of LeGates' Blue Jays have earned All-GNAC Tournament Team recognition. In 2008 a school-record five Blue Jays were named to the All-Conference squads including defender Susie McKenna who also became the school's first NSCAA All-Region honoree.
LeGates' teams have historically been very strong on the defensive end of the field capitalizing on counter-attacks relying on athleticism and excellent ball-handling in the offensive end.
Coach LeGates is currently the U-18 and U-15 girls' premier coach for the Academica Futbol Club as well as the technical director for the program. He is also the assistant coach of the New England Mutiny Women's Team of the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL). Coach LeGates is a managing partner and director of the Collegiate Soccer System which operates camps, clinics and training of soccer players throughout New England. Coach LeGates has been involved in the Connecticut Olympic Development Program and he has established himself as lecturer and clinician in the region.
Prior to his coaching career, LeGates graduated from Division I University of Hartford, where his team won the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championship and went to the Final 16 in the NCAA National Tournament in 1991. He holds an Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). LeGates currently resides in Springfield, Mass. with his wife Jill.
