After more than 30 years of coaching on campus, OCU’s head soccer coach has an NAIA-record setting 799 wins.
Coach Brian Harvey, head coach of the men’s and women’s soccer teams, will receive the Abe Lemons/Paul Hansen Award for Sports Excellence at this year’s OCU Sports Spectacular. The Sports Spectacular will feature the award ceremony and auctions at 6 p.m. March 28 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 N.E. 63rd St.
Harvey has the most men’s and women’s soccer wins in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics history. He started this season as the NAIA women’s coach with the most wins and was within the top 10 for victories of men’s coaches.
Harvey has a record of 429 wins for the men’s team and 370 for the women’s team.
Under Harvey’s direction, the women’s soccer team reached the NAIA semifinals in 1999 and 2000 and the championship in 2001. The men’s team reached the championship in 1991 and the semifinals in 2008.
Senior Goalkeeper Kirsten Thomas said Harvey is part of the reason she decided to play soccer at OCU.
“Originally, because my major is so hard, I decided that I didn’t want to do both athletics and nursing, and so I was just going to go to nursing school without playing soccer,” she said. “And then he saw me at a tournament, and he was really personable and really reached out. I decided to just take a leap of faith and try this school out, and I came here. I just fell in love with it.”
Harvey came to OCU and started the men’s soccer team in 1986. He later established the women’s soccer team in 1994.
Harvey had a career in soccer before working at OCU, both coaching and playing professionally around the world. Before coming to OCU, Harvey was a professional soccer coach for the Oklahoma City Slickers. He also played in the North American Soccer League in Hong Kong and Australia.
“I didn’t get paid a great amount of money, not enough to retire on, but it’s not so often people get paid for something they love to do,” he said. “It’s like any other sport—you love it, and hopefully, hopefully you can go on and make a living from it.”
Harvey said he was lucky to travel the world and make friends. He said he began coaching in 1975, which grew naturally out of his love for soccer.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at OCU with both the men and the women’s programs. It’s very fulfilling, actually, to work with people for four years and watch them mature and grow into responsible young people while enjoying the sport that they love to play,” he said.
Harvey said his favorite part of coaching is encouraging students and appreciating the atmosphere at OCU. He said, though he’s had a great career and the teams have accomplished much, seeing student growth is meaningful to him.
“I try to attend every graduation, and it’s very important to me to see the kids walk across the stage,” he said.
Junior Forward Namory Sidibe said Coach Harvey is a hard worker and deserves the award for his work in the field of soccer.
Harvey said he is humbled to receive such a great honor. He said he attributes much of his success to the people he’s worked with.
“I’ve played a little part. There’s a lot of people that have done an awful lot of things along the way, but I’ve done a little part as well,” he said. “You’re only as good as the players that you surround yourself with, and assistant coaches and administrators and athletic directors, all the people that help support the soccer programs at Oklahoma City University.”
Harvey is a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Soccer Association Hall of Fame and OCU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Harvey is considered a pioneer in the soccer community and is known throughout the Oklahoma soccer community for helping grow the sport, said Nathan Doll, assistant coach for the men’s and women’s soccer teams.
Doll has known Harvey since 2008 when Doll was recruited to play on OCU’s team. He said Harvey is a mentor as a coach, colleague and friend. Harvey personifies the purpose of the Lemons/Hansen award, honoring those who have contributed to the growth of sport, he said.
“I can’t say for certain, but I’m quite sure he has very few enemies out there and about a million friends. I’ve never really heard anyone have a negative word to say about him, so to be around in any field for that long and to have that kind of reputation, I think, speaks volumes,” Doll said.
“But also, in this specific situation of being a coach and being in a position to help young people and approach it the way he has, I can’t think of a better person to receive the award. And that’s the other thing—he wouldn’t have ever done it for an award.”
Doll said Harvey helps students grow through a holistic coaching approach, demanding high standards, treating everyone with respect, making sure people are punctual, and listening to issues players may have outside the sport.
Freshman Midfielder Madison Caputo said Harvey deserves the award. She said Harvey is a great coach for recognizing that each player is unique and pushing them so they can be great.
“He is a lovely man and a great coach,” she said.
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