Steve Welham Position: Associate Head Coach Alma Mater: Seton Hall '99 Boston University '03

Promoted to associate head coach in November 2009, Steve Welham joined the women's soccer program as an assistant coach at Stony Brook University in July 2006.

Welham's primary duties include working with the goalkeepers and the back line. Welham is also the recruiting coordinator and is heavily involved with the day-to-day operations of the program.

Under the tutelage of Welham, goalkeeper Marisa Viola '10 garnered both national and conference accolades. The 2009 Team MVP and a second-team All-America East selection, Viola closed her brilliant four-year career with program records in shutouts (26), games played (70), career minutes (6565:45), single-season minutes (1800:14) and GAA (1.10). She also ranked second in career saves (467) and save percentage (.853).

In 2008, Viola was named the America East Goalkeeper of the Year as the Seawolves advanced to the America East title game for the first time since 2002. In 2007, Viola set a school record with 10 shutouts and posted the seventh-longest shutout streak in NCAA Division I history.

In the summer of 2010, Welham was invited to observe the girls U.S. U-15 National Team in Chula Vista, Calif. at the Olympic Training Center (OTC). The opportunity afforded Welham the chance to learn firsthand from a top-level coaching staff and scout some of the best talent in the country. Welham is now a member of the U.S. National Scouting staff and currently works at the U.S. Soccer training center in the N.Y./N.J. region for both men and women.

Welham also helped bring in the No. 2 ranked recruiting class in the America East Conference in 2008 according to Soccerbuzz.com, an online soccer publication, which also ranked the Seawolves' class 13th out of 42 teams in the Northeast region.

Welham joined the Seawolves after a successful two-year stint with Boston University. As the goalkeepers coach, he helped guide the Terriers to America East regular season and tournament titles in 2004, while reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Welham holds the rare honor of having coached in the America East finals on both the men's and women's sides (2004 Boston University - men's champion & 2008 Stony Brook University - women's finalists).

Before his stay in Boston, Welham directed the goalkeepers at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. Welham was also responsible for recruiting, scouting, and overseeing the weight program for a squad that advanced to the Skyline Conference championship in 2003 and ranked as high as No. 6 nationally.

A magna cum laude graduate of Seton Hall University, Welham was honored as the 1999 Seton Hall University Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was also a three-time Big East Academic All-Star and was a seven-time Dean's List student. Welham was also an ECAC Student-Athlete award winner and was a recipient of the Seton Hall University Merit Scholarship.

Welham received his master's degree from Boston University in 2003, graduating magna cum laude in counseling with a specialization in sports psychology.

After his graduation from Seton Hall, Welham played professionally in goal for the South Jersey Barons of the USL for two seasons. He also trained with several other professional teams in the both the A-League and MISL.

Welham is also currently involved in the Olympic Development Program. He is on the Region I Goalkeeping Staff and was formerly the head coach of the girls ENY-South ODP U-17 team, who he led to back-to-back appearances in the Regional Championship game.

Welham currently holds the NSCAA Advanced National Diploma along with the NSCAA National Goalkeeping Diploma (Level III), and in the summer of 2011, he earned his USSF "A" Coaching License. Welham, a member of the NSCAA Coaching Association, is also a noted author who has published four articles pertaining to sports psychology and soccer in the NSCAA Soccer Journal.