THEN: Starting stopperback. Did an excellent defensive job. Always had the opponents leading striker to contend with. Outstanding. 1 assist.
NOW: Over her 30+ year career, Sue Ryan led the Stony Brook University women’s soccer program from a Division III program to a perennial contender in Division I in the America East Conference, leading the team to 229 victories, including eight seasons with at least 10 wins. She led Stony Brook to an America East Conference tournament title in 2012 by knocking off the top three seeds in as many days and then earned the program’s only berth into the NCAA Women’s College Cup. Under Ryan’s tutelage, 15 Seawolves earned first team All-America East honors, 16 received second team all-conference honors, three were named AE Goalkeeper of the Year and two were named AE Rookie of the Year.
At the National level, Ryan has served as an assistant coach of the U-17 U.S. Women’s National Team and assisted at the U-20 training combine helping prepare the U-20 Women’s National Team for the 2010 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany. At the Regional level, Ryan has been at the helm of the Region I Olympic Development Program for over 25 years, where she identifies and develops the top youth talent within the East Region, one of the strongest soccer regions in the country.
Over her storied career, Ryan’s coaching and focus on player development has helped many young women be selected for the U.S. Women’s National Team, U-23 U.S. Women’s National Team, U-20 U.S. Women’s National Team and the U-17 U.S. Women’s National Team.
Ryan is one of a select few coaches in the nation to have earned the United States Soccer Federation’s (USSF) “A” license. She also holds National and Advanced National licenses from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Over her career, Ryan has been honored with numerous awards of distinction, including multiple prestigious awards from the NSCAA in 2015, 2014 and 2011, which included the Women’s Committee Award of Excellence, which honors those who have brought distinction to women’s soccer. Ryan also received the Judith M. Sweet Award in 2014 from the NCAA Coaches Academy Program, named after the first female president of the NCAA and given to the coach who models Judith Sweet’s integrity and perspective through their everyday actions. A staple of Long Island soccer, Ryan was named to the Long Island Player Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014.
On January 15, 2016, Ryan received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Letter of Commendation “in recognition of a career in coaching filled with service to the NSCAA, college soccer, youth soccer and coaching education.” She was also recently elected Chair of the Advocacy Council of the National Soccer Coaching Association of America. In this role, Sue will oversee the work of several diversity committees in this 30,000-member coaching association. Ryan has been a member of the Board of Governors of the NSCAA since 2013.
Ryan is currently an assistant professor at Stony Brook University, where she received her master’s degree in 1988, after earning a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Cortland.
Soccer Memory: Mrs. Rush’s cookies and hot chocolate! The van ride to Colorado; Lisa’s anatomy & physiology cat; z’s for chips; the police escort down Main Street.