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Courtney Sirmans
Courtney Sirmans enters her sixth year as head coach of the women's soccer program.
Miami is looking to build on a successful 2022 campaign that saw the RedHawks finish above .500 for the first time in seven years, compiling a 9-5-6 overall record. Last season’s team lost just twice in Mid-American Conference regular-season play, earning its first MAC Tournament berth since 2016 and then winning at Ohio to advance to the tournament semifinals.
Sirmans’ group produced three All-MAC players (as well as an All-Freshman pick), 10 Academic All-MAC honorees, six CSC Academic All-District selections, three All-Ohio choices and two Academic All-Ohio standouts in 2022.
Midfielder Camber Hayes claimed Second-Team All-Region honors and was later named the 2023 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year, becoming the first MAC student-athlete ever to win that prestigious award. Goalkeeper Izzie Vaccari posted 10 shutouts for the Red and White, one off the program record, as Miami yielded just 0.70 goals per game.
In 2021, Miami compiled eight wins (8-8-3), with five of those coming in MAC play. Those totals were the most for the RedHawks’ program since 2016, and earned the squad a pair of All-MAC selections. Miami also finished .500 in a shortened 2020 season (played in the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19), placing third in the MAC East at 4-4 and picking up two All-MAC nods (Hayes and Desiree Grubbs). Sirmans' side also collected four wins in 2019 after posting three in her debut campaign.
In all, Sirmans has produced seven All-MAC picks and eight All-Freshman selections in her five years at the helm. Her student-athletes have won a total of 44 Academic All-MAC awards, including 11 in the 2021 season.
Sirmans, who spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Rice before coming to Oxford, is the third head coach in RedHawk history.
During her time in Houston, Sirmans helped the Owls amass a 33-16-5 record with three-straight 10+ win seasons and a regular season Conference USA title. This fall, Rice posted a 12-4-2 campaign and went an unbeaten 9-0-1 in conference play amidst a school-record 11-match unbeaten streak to capture the Conference USA regular season crown.
Rice’s stellar and consistent play earned the Owls national recognition as they climbed as high as 18th in the national polls in late October while achieving an RPI of No. 25. More importantly, Rice received an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament and gave 23rd-ranked Baylor all it could handle in the first round, netting the first goal of the contest and sitting in a 2-2 tie late in regulation before BU advanced with a 3-2 victory.
A total of 18 Rice players garnered all-conference recognition during Sirmans’ tenure, including two-time Conference USA Midfielder of the Year Samantha Chaiken, 2016 Defensive Player of the Year Jenny Fichera and 2015 Co-Ofensive Player of the Year Lauren Hughes. Additionally, Chaiken became the first Owl to earn All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches Association. Rice’s student-athletes also excelled in the classroom. With Sirmans monitoring the team’s academic progress, the Owls finished with a 3.2 GPA or higher in all three seasons she was in Houston.
Before arriving at Rice, Sirmans spent two seasons coaching at the University of Massachusetts where she helped the Minutewomen post back-to-back Atlantic 10 tournament appearances. She worked primarily with the defenders, and was instrumental in training centerback Rebekka Sverrisdottir to first team all-conference honors in 2014 and to the A-10 All-Tournament team in 2013.
A 2008 graduate of the University of Dayton, Sirmans spent the 2012 season coaching at her alma mater. While working with the Flyers' defense, she mentored Alysha Mallon to all-region and all-conference honors.
Prior to Dayton, she served three years as an assistant at Wright State from 2009-2011, where she helped in all aspects of the program. Sirmans helped coach WSU centerback Lauren Patterson to First Team All-Horizon League and to the conference All-Tournament Team in 2010. In 2009 Patterson was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team, and as a squad the Raiders registered a steady 0.81 goals-against average for the entire season.
During her time as an undergraduate at Dayton, Sirmans appeared in 75 games with 59 starts and logged eight goals and 11 assists in her four years. She was tabbed an Honorable Mention Freshman All-American by Soccer Buzz magazine in 2004 after totaling 15 points on five goals and five assists to finish fourth on the team in scoring in her Division I debut. In addition to earning a spot on the conference All-Rookie Team during her first season with the Flyers, she collected her first of two A-10 All-Tournament team accolades. Sirmans assisted on both goals in the conference semifinals that year and set up the game winner in overtime in the championship match to help the Flyers earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Following her collegiate career, Sirmans had a trial with TSV Crailsheim, which is part of the top division German Women's Bundesliga, and was also invited to a tryout with the Women's Professional Soccer's Washington Freedom. Sirmans has extensive club coaching experience as she has worked with Ohio Galaxies since 2010, and coached one of the best teams in the Dayton area that was ranked as high as second in Ohio South.
Prior to attending Dayton, Sirmans was a five-time member of the Ohio Olympic Development Program state team. She also played year-round for the Dayton Soccer Academy after three years of high school play for the Centerville Elks. Sirmans helped lead DSA to State Cup titles in the first four years of the club's existence in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. DSA was also runner-up in the US Club Nationals in 2003.
A native of Centerville, Ohio, Sirmans graduated from Dayton in 2008 with a Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science. She has her USSF B License, NSCAA Premier License and U.S. Soccer Instructor License. She is a NSCAA Associate Staff member and part of NSCAA Women's Committee. In 2015-16 Sirmans was named to NSCAA 30 under 30, which is the top 30 men and female coaches in the nation that are under the age of 30.
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