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University of NC - Chapel Hill

UNC Athletic Department
 P.O. Box 2126 Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Division 1 North Carolina Southeast
Public Very Large National competitor
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Anson Dorrance

The 2024 season will mark Anson Dorrance’s 48th year as a head coach at UNC, including 46 seasons as the women’s head coach – the only head coach in program history.


A 1974 Carolina graduate, Dorrance has won a combined 1,106 games at his alma mater while coaching the men and women. Heading into the 2024 season, he owns a career record of 1,106-152-74, including a 934-88-53 mark as the women's head coach.


His 934 victories as head coach of the UNC women’s program are the most in the sport’s history.


He won his 1,000th game as a collegiate head coach, including 172 wins as UNC’s men’s head coach from 1977-88, when the Tar Heels defeated Ohio State on August 18, 2018. It was his 828th victory as the UNC women’s coach. Dorrance captured his 900th win as Carolina’s women’s coach against Notre Dame in the 2021 home finale on Oct. 24.


Dorrance was presented with the prestigious Werner Fricker Builder Award in 2016 from United States Soccer, given to an individual who has dedicated at least 20 years of service to the sport, working to establish a lasting legacy in the history and structure of soccer in the United States.


He was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in August 2008 on the “Builders of the Game” ballot, being inducted in his first year of eligibility.


In 2012, Dorrance led Carolina to its 20th NCAA Championship, making him the first coach in NCAA history to win 20 NCAA championships in a single sport. He is the all-time leader in Division I NCAA championships in any sport and tied for second across all NCAA divisions in all-time titles with 21.


The women’s soccer program has produced 21 of UNC’s 49 NCAA championships, which ranks the fifth-most by any program in NCAA Division I history. Oklahoma State wrestling has 34, Southern California men’s outdoor track and field 26, Denver skiing 24, Iowa wrestling 24 and UNC women’s soccer, USC men’s tennis and Yale men’s golf have won 21.


Beckett Entertainment named the 1982-2000 Tar Heels the sixth most successful sports dynasty of the 20th century, trailing only the 1957-69 Boston Celtics, 1947-62 New York Yankees, 1963-75 UCLA men’s basketball, 1991-98 Chicago Bulls and 1953-60 Montreal Canadians.


Dorrance led Carolina to a 103-game unbeaten streak (97-0-6) from 1986 to 1990 and a 101-game unbeaten streak (99-0-2) from 1990 to 1994.


In 2022, the Tar Heels claimed a share of the ACC regular season championship, advanced to the ACC title game and made its unprecedented 31st appearance in the NCAA College Cup. The Tar Heels are the only women's soccer program in the country to appear in every NCAA Tournament.


He has coached 19 different players to National Player-of-the-Year honors, including three-time recipient Cindy Parlow (current president of U.S. Soccer) and Mia Hamm, who was selected the Greatest Female Athlete in the ACC’s first 50 years.


Dorrance has been named National Coach of the Year seven times, six as the women’s head coach (1982, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006) and once with the men (1987).


He led the Carolina men to the 1987 NCAA Final Four.


Dorrance served as head coach of the United States Women’s National Team from 1986-94, leading Team USA to the title in the first-ever Women’s World Cup in China in 1991.

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Daman Nahas

Damon Nahas will begin his ninth complete season as a full-time assistant women’s soccer coach at the University of North Carolina in Fall 2024. He officially joined the Tar Heel staff on November 9, 2015.


UNC head coach Anson Dorrance has had nothing but praise for Nahas since he joined the staff nearly nine years ago.


“What’s happened in the last couple of years is that we were fortunate enough to convince Damon Nahas to be a part of our staff and he is remarkable in every respect,” said Dorrance when he hired Nahas in the fall of 2015. “He’s not only good in every training session where he brings a cutting edge to player development, but he’s also a fabulous recruiter and he ties us into the national youth teams programs which is vital in modern day recruiting.


“Damon was the U15 National Team coach so my motivation in hiring him was certainly in part that he ties us into a culture where it is critical to have a connection. And the youth national team program is our recruiting pool. His energy in the office is great and his dream is to continue the player development capital that we’ve developed.”


Nahas brought with him an extensive background from the previous 15 years in player development, club coaching and national team coaching to his duties in Chapel Hill. In 2000, he developed a U7-U11 technical academy, Next Level Academy (NLA), which not only played a major role in his development as a coach but along with the NLA staff continues to be a leader in player development in the Triangle. He served as the technical director of one of the most successful youth clubs in the country, the Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) in Raleigh since 2000. He also served as head coach of the U.S. U15 Girls National Team from 2011-14 and began a stint as an assistant coach for the U.S. U17 Women’s National Team in 2014.


“I am incredibly honored and humbled to have the opportunity to work alongside Anson Dorrance and his staff. The UNC women’s soccer program has an unrivaled tradition of success, so to say I am excited for the next phase of my career, would be an understatement,” said Nahas upon his hiring in 2015. “To have the chance to work with some of the most talented players in the women’s game while learning from a staff which continues to be motivated to develop players both on and off the field is incredible. I want to thank Anson along with the entire UNC family for this amazing opportunity and I look forward to the beginning of an exciting journey.”


“If you look at all the places on the face of the Earth, the place that has developed players who have played in more Olympic Games and in more World Cups than any place else is Chapel Hill, N.C.,” said Dorrance in praising what he believes is one of Nahas’ strength. “We’re incredibly proud of that. We obviously roll that out in recruiting and the number of roster spots we’ve earned is staggering. We can compare it with any college that is out there and we can compare it with any international club team. We can compare it to any professional environment anywhere in the world. Damon has a player development attitude just like mine. We all want to develop players who are competing at the highest levels in the sport. This will always put us in a position to compete for national championships and compete for ACC championships. But ultimately what drives us is watching a kid come in at one level and then after four years to see her at a completely different level. I’m very proud of that.”


Nahas attended and played soccer at NC State from 1992-96 and then played professionally with the Wilmington Hammerheads and Capital Express. In 2000, he joined the CASL staff where he helped develop and execute a technical curriculum for the coaching staff and players, primarily at the U9-U14 levels for both boys and girls. During his tenure there he coached teams across all age groups and genders including squads which won two ECNL national championships, a U.S. Club national championship, a Super Y League national title, four state championships and two Disney showcases while having success in many other national tournaments.


Nahas began his coaching tenure on the national level with U.S. Soccer in 2011. He was the U15 girls’ national team coach from 2011-14, overseeing the program for up to five training camps per year while also scouting and selecting players eligible for the teams. In 2014, he began a stint as the U17 WNT assistant coach, a position which included scouting players and assisting with training sessions with head coach B.J. Snow. In 2014, Nahas was also invited to serve as an assistant for the full USWNT during various camps, where he conducted technical training sessions for the team.


“Damon Nahas has changed girls soccer in the state of North Carolina. It used to be very difficult to find local players that could compete at a national level collegiately. Damon has changed that,” says Dorrance. “Three of his youth players off one team have started for us–Joanna Boyles, Cameron Castleberry and Maya Worth and products of CASL continue to populate our roster. There are not many youth coaches in the country that can say off one youth team, they have produced three NCAA Division I starters on a Top 10 collegiate team at the same time.


Among his past head coaching experiences have been stints with Cary Clarets PDL (head coach), Carolina RailHawks (assistant coach 2007-09) and Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh (men’s head coach 1999-2002).


A native of East Northport, N.Y., Nahas earned his bachelor's degree from Southern New Hampshire University in 2021. He and his wife, Nicole, have two sons, Crew and Grayson, and a daughter Harper.

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Chris Ducar

The upcoming 2024 season marks Chris Ducar’s 29th season as a member of the University of North Carolina women's soccer program.


Ducar transitioned to the position of general manager in 2021 after spending 26 years serving as the program's goalkeeper coach. In Spring 2024, he resumed his responsibilities as an assistant coach working with the goalkeepers while simultaneously maintaining his role as general manager. 2024 will be his fourth year as general manager.


In his role as GM, Ducar oversees recruiting; fundraising; the team's name, image and likeness program; coordinates promotional activities with UNC's marketing department, campus and friends groups to enhance attendance; and other duties to grow the game on the local and national level. He also coordinates alumni engagement and academic oversight for the 22-time national champions.


"The role he is assuming is even more critical to keeping our program at the level we all want and expect it to remain for the foreseeable future." UNC head coach Anson Dorrance said. "Chris has a passion for Carolina Women's Soccer, for advancing our program and for developing the young women who play for us. As general manager he will play an even larger and diverse role than he's had at Carolina for the past quarter century."


The veteran Tar Heel head coach credits Ducar with keeping UNC at the top of the college game with his renowned recruiting and organizational prowess.


Ducar’s experience as an assistant coach and recruiter was recognized at the conclusion of the 2006 season when he was named the national assistant coach of the year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). He also won the same assistant coach of the year award for the NSCAA’s South Region that season as well as Carolina concluded a 27-1 season and captured the 2006 ACC and NCAA championships.


In 2018, the Tar Heels advanced to the NCAA championship game and the UNC staff was named the outstanding coaching staff in the NSCAA’s South Region. Starting goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak set a Tar Heel record for successive scoreless minutes played in goal that had stood for three decades. Previously with junior Samantha Leshnak playing every minute in goal in 2017 the Tar Heels returned the ACC Tournament championship to Chapel Hill for the first time since 2009 as UNC allowed only 12 goals all season.


During his two plus decades in Chapel Hill, Ducar has proven to be both a tremendous game and practice coach as well as a fantastic recruiter. His work ethic is a key factor in Carolina’s consistent success in an era of overwhelming parity in the college game.


Ducar’s recruiting prowess is well known in the college game as he has consistently brought in classes ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Top Drawer Soccer recognized UNC’s Class of 2013 group as the nation’s best and those players keyed UNC to a national championship in 2012. The Tar Heel freshmen who enrolled in the fall of 2016 were recognized as the nation’s third-ranked recruiting class by Top Drawer Soccer and the fall 2018 freshman class was again recognized as one of the nation’s best by Top Drawer Soccer, ranking third overall with just five incoming players. TDS recognized the freshmen in the fall of 2019 as the nation’s third best class again.


During his long coaching tenure at Chapel Hill, Ducar has helped lead Carolina to NCAA championships in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012 and to ACC Tournament championships in 14 years as well, most recently in 2017. Carolina has finished atop the ACC regular-season standings 15 times during his coaching tenure, most recently in 2018.


In 2016, Ducar mentored Lindsey Harris to a school record save total of 96, breaking a mark which had stood since 1980. Harris’ play as a redshirt senior was a key element in UNC’s advancement to the ACC Tournament finals and the NCAA Tournament semifinals.


A member of the Olympic Development Program Staff in Regions I and III, Ducar is a National Clinician for the United States Youth Soccer Association and belongs to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.


Ducar has been a mainstay in coaching U.S. women’s national teams in international events. He was the goalkeeper coach for the U21 National Team which won the 1999 Nordic Cup title in Iceland. Former UNC player Siri Mullinix was the championship keeper for the U.S. in that tournament, and she was the starter for the U.S. National Team in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia when the Americans won silver.


Ducar served as goalkeeper coach for the 1998 U.S. U21 women’s national team which competed in the Nordic Cup. The United States won the silver medal in that competition. He also served as goalkeeper coach for the 1997 U.S. U21 national team that won the gold medal in the 1997 Nordic Cup in Denmark.


In addition to his duties as an assistant coach at UNC, Ducar also served as an assistant coach for the women’s team at UNCG from 1995-98 on a part-time basis before he became a full-time coach at Carolina in 1998. In 1995, he was the goalkeeper coach at Greensboro College. In 1990-91, he was an assistant coach at the University of California Santa Cruz.


During his time at Carolina, Ducar has tutored three first-team All-America goalkeepers in Siri Mullinix, Jenni Branam and Aly Winget. Mullinix was a three-year starter for UNC, and Branam and Winget were both four-year starting goalkeepers. Winget set the ACC records for solo shutouts in a season with 16 in 2003 and in a career with 35. In 2006, Anna Rodenbough nearly equaled Winget’s mark as she posted 15 solo shutouts in helping the Tar Heels win the NCAA championship. He did one of his best coaching jobs of his career in 2009 as senior Ashlyn Harris, a long-time member of the U.S. National Team and a 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, led Carolina to another national title as Carolina posted 19 shutouts and allowed a mere 0.44 goals per game against the nation’s toughest schedule. Harris was named first-team All-ACC as well as an Academic All-America. In 2011 and 2012, Ducar helped develop Yale transfer and walk-on Adelaide Gay into one of the most consistent goalkeepers in the college game. Gay was a first-team Academic All-America in 2011 and in 2012. She allowed only 0.62 goals per game as the Tar Heels won the national championship in 2012.


In the summer of 2000, Ducar served as the head coach for the North Carolina women’s state team that won the regional championship and advanced to compete in the Donnelly Cup national tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.


Ducar graduated from the University of Missouri in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He was a Dean’s List student there and went on to earn a teaching credential from San Jose State University in 1995.


Ducar played on the men’s club soccer team at the University of Missouri from 1986-90. Post-collegiately, he played for Inter A.C. in Fremont, Calif., helping the team claim the 1990 Premier Division title. He was also a member of the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) when they won the 1991 national championship. He played for the San Jose Oaks, the 1992 U.S. Open Cup champions.


Former national director for Soccer Plus Goalkeeper Schools in Connecticut, he spent much of his time traveling the United States organizing camps and clinics for Soccer Plus. He has also served as director of Go For Gold Soccer Schools, World Soccer and Santa Cruz Soccer Camps in California and for David Brcic’s Goalkeeper Schools in Missouri.


Ducar holds coaching licenses from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (premier license) and the United States Soccer Federation (national “A” license). Ducar is on both the United States Soccer Federation and National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Goalkeeping Staffs.

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Tracey Bates Leone

Three-time University of North Carolina women’s soccer national champion Tracey Bates Leone, a pioneer in the sport’s growth in the United States, returned to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach ahead of the 2024 season.


She brings with her over three decades of coaching and playing experience at the collegiate and international level.


“We are thrilled to welcome Tracey back to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach,” said head coach Anson Dorrance. “She has a proven track record of building winning programs and leading her teams to new heights. Tracey understands what it takes to be successful on the collegiate and international stage, and her experience will be invaluable for our student-athletes.”


A standout midfielder under Dorrance in the late 1980s, Leone – then known as Tracey Bates – led the Tar Heels to three national championships (1986, 1987, 1989) and one runner-up finish (1985). She scored the game-winning goal against Colorado College in 1986.


She was named the 1989 NCAA College Cup Defensive MVP and was twice tabbed to the All-NCAA College Cup Team. Leone graduated as a three-time All-America selection, All-ACC honoree and served as team captain during her senior year.


In 2002, she was selected to the Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary Team as one of the best players in league history.


“I would like to thank Bubba Cunningham and Anson Dorrance for providing me this amazing opportunity,” said Leone. “It is so rare and special to have the chance to coach at your alma mater, and I feel like I struck gold twice. To be able to return to Chapel Hill to serve the program I deeply loved being a part of and to work with Anson, the coach who I loved playing for, is truly an honor. I am so excited to work with and learn from Damon Nahas and Chris Ducar as well as with this extraordinary group of young women.”


Leone played for the United States Women’s National Team from 1987-91, also under Dorrance, earning 29 caps with 21 starts. She scored five goals and dished out two assists during her time for the stars and stripes. Leone and Team USA won the first-ever Women’s World Cup in 1991.


She began her college coaching career as an assistant at Creighton University in 1991 while also playing for the USWNT. Soon after, she founded the women’s soccer program at Clemson University in 1993 and served as its first head coach from 1994-99.


After building the program from scratch, Leone led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament each of her six years, including two Sweet Sixteens and one Elite Eight appearance. She was inducted into the Clemson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.


Leone then became the assistant coach at Arizona State in 2005 before assuming the same role at Harvard University in 2007. She helped lead the Crimson to back-to-back Ivy League titles and NCAA Tournament berths in 2008 and 2009.


Prior to her time at Harvard, Leone was the head women’s soccer coach at Northeastern University from 2010-15. The Huskies had five consecutive Colonial Athletic Association Tournament appearances under her guidance, winning one regular season conference title and two conference championships. Leone was tabbed the CAA Coach of the Year and Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year in 2014.


She arrives back in Chapel Hill having most recently been the head coach at Colby College during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.


Through the years, Leone has spent time working with various levels of the U.S. Women’s National teams, the Olympic Development Program and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She became the head coach of the U-16 squad in 2000 and led the U-19 team to the world championship gold medal in 2002.


After guiding the U.S. U-19 National Team to its inaugural world title in 2022, Leone became the first American to win a world championship as both a player and as a head coach.


She was also an assistant coach of the gold-medal-winning U.S. team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. She has also served as an assistant coach for the New Zealand Women’s National Team, most recently helping the Ferns in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which the country co-hosted.


A native of Dallas, Texas, Leone graduated from UNC in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in education. She married her husband, Ray Leone, in 1992.

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