By Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The winningest coach in the history of Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer, Peninsula College’s Kanyon Anderson, was this week named 2018 NWAC Coach of the Year.
It is the third time Anderson, who won his fourth NWAC championship last November, was named NWAC Coach of the Year. He also won that award in 2011 and 2016.
“It is very fitting that he earns this award again this year,” said Rick Ross, associate dean for athletics and student life. “He works very hard, he has built an outstanding coaching staff to assist him, and he has built a soccer powerhouse that just keeps winning.”
Anderson was hired to launch women’s soccer at Peninsula in 2010. Since placing second in the division that year, he’s won a division title every year since. He went on to win NWAC titles in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2018.
“I am really happy to get coach of the year because it reflects on the mature approach the players took after losing the first two games on the year,” Anderson said. “It is also a reflection of the teamwork of the assistant coaches Jordyn Shaffer and Andrew Cooper.”
“Jordyn, in her first year with us, helped create a kind, fun and strong culture. The players loved her and played so hard for her,” he said.
“Andrew Cooper developed two of the best goal keepers in the league and was instrumental in helping create a big-picture approach to all of our trainings and game prep. He is a great balance for my sometimes overly spontaneous approach.”
Anderson also praised men’s coach Jake Hughes for being “a constant sounding board throughout the season and was a huge help with developing a game plan for a very difficult final four.” And he also complimented his wife Amanda, who helped him start the program and who was coaching women’s soccer before they met. “I am very lucky to have a partner who is always willing to talk soccer, to offer insights into the team and to ask difficult questions,” he said. “It’s hard to win anything alone and this is really about the awesome community of people we have surrounding this program.”
The NWAC’s announcement of the women’s coach of the year, Anderson, and the men’s coach of the year, Jason Prenovost of Tacoma, is typically released in November, but was delayed this year.
