THE NSCAA FOUNDATION The NSCAA Foundation Announces
Endowment Campaign
They call him a founding father of
Georgia high school soccer. To
commemorate the coaching spirit of
Robert “Bob” M. Sims, the NSCAA
Foundation—charitable arm of the
National Soccer Coaches Association of
America—is establishing a permanently
endowed fund named in honor of Bob.
The annual income from the Bob
Sims Fund will provide financial
assistance to deserving youth
soccer coaches and youth soccer
organizations in targeted,
underserved urban communities
throughout the United States,
enabling them to attend NSCAA
National Coaching Academy
courses.
The initial goal is $25,000, the minimum
required to establish an NSCAA Foundation
endowment. Once established, the Bob
Sims Fund will join the other named
endowments under our “Honor Your
Coach” recognition program.
Bob Sims knew nothing about soccer
when he was assigned to coach it at the
Westminster Schools in Atlanta in 1958.
But he taught himself the rules, and the
school’s record of 316-83-19, including five
state championships during his 34 seasons,
demonstrates his success as a coach.
Off the field, and outside the classroom
where he taught chemistry, Bob took the
lead in expanding soccer programs across
Georgia. He joined the NSCAA in 1959,
and he lobbied the Georgia High School
Association annually until it recognized
soccer as an interscholastic sport in 196566—and appointed him Soccer Manager.
From 1969 until he retired from coaching
in 1993, Bob was Georgia’s Soccer
Coordinator and Tournament Chairman.
When he began in 1965-66, Georgia had
The Bob Sims Fund
just 20 high school
soccer teams. When
he retired in 1993,
there were 156 high
school soccer teams in
the state.
Bob embodied the best
spirit of coaching: a
gentle man, respectful
of his opponents and game
officials, and solicitous of his
players; a believer in combining
hard work and fun; a teacher of
sportsmanship and a practitioner
of positive reinforcement and
ethical behavior; a mentor in all
respects. For his dedication to the
highest principles of coaching, he
was named National High School
Athletic Coaches Association National
Coach of the Year in 1975, NSCAA Region
IV High School Coach of the Year in 1981,
and NSCAA South Region
High School Coach of the
Year in 1983. But perhaps
the best awards in his
eyes were the five Georgia
High School Association
Team Sportsmanship
Awards his teams received
during ten years of
eligibility. The Georgia
High School Association
recognized this side of
Bob’s coaching when it
renamed this award the Bob Sims
Sportsmanship Award in 1993.
Bob joined the NSCAA to learn, but he
gave back to the Association in great
measure. He attended every convention
for 50 years, 1959-2009, and he recruited
many Georgia coaches as members of the
Association. A Lifetime Member, he has
served as Southeast Area High School
Representative and as a member of the
Soccer Journal Committee, History &
Records Committee, High School Long
Term Achievement Award Committee, and
Georgia All-America Committee. He also
served as coach of the West team in the
1984 Army/NSCAA National High School
All-Star Game.
Bob Sims received many other awards:
the Georgia High School Association
Meritorious Service Award, four times
a Georgia STAR Teacher of the Year,
enrollment in the Westminster Schools
Athletic Hall of Fame and the Georgia
State Soccer Association Hall of Fame.
But the most heart-felt acclaim for this
father of Georgia soccer was expressed in
the proclamation from his former students
upon his retirement: “Coach Sims showed
humor and grace under pressure, and a
human approach to coaching and dealing
with young men that made playing for him
a pleasure.”
We hope you will consider
a tax-deductible gift
toward the Bob Sims Fund
and join us in honoring
Bob’s contributions and
devotion to high school
soccer. To make a donation
to the Bob Sims Fund, mail
your tax-deductible
contribution to:
The Bob Sims Fund
c/o The NSCAA Foundation
800 Ann Avenue Kansas City, KS 66101
To make a gift online, go to
http://www.nscaa.com/foundation/donate
For more information, please contact
the NSCAA Foundation Committee,
at [email protected] or call
913.362.1747 and select option 7.
N S C A A F O U N D AT I O N
N AT I O N A L S O C C E R C O A C H E S A S S O C I AT I O N O F A M E R I C A
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