THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 25, 1995 TAG: 9510250593
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
In a move designed to coordinate player acquisition and development under one person, the Hampton Roads Mariners professional soccer team named general manager Shawn McDonald as the team's new head coach Tuesday.
McDonald, who has 17 years of college coaching experience, including a stint as assistant coach at Old Dominion from 1990 to 1994, was the Mariners' assistant coach last season under Sonny Travis, who resigned two weeks ago to devote more time to his head coaching position at Virginia Wesleyan.
``I'll be securing the players as well as coaching them, so there will be no guesswork on whether the marriage will work,'' McDonald said.
The Mariners will restructure office responsibilities to allow McDonald to devote more time to coaching.
Delroy Allen, the Mariners' goalkeeper coach last season, has been offered the position of assistant coach but has not yet accepted.
Hampton Roads has moved into the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues' elite 24-team Select Division for the 1996 season. Joining the Mariners in the Southeast Division are Carolina (formerly Greensboro), Raleigh, Richmond, Tampa Bay and South Carolina. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Shawn McDonald
by CNB