With just her second season with the Pride, Sarah Cade has received the honors of North Carolina State Men’s Soccer Assistant Coach of the Year. Being the assistant coach of both the boy’s and girl’s teams, she has been acknowledged for her outstanding ability as a coach.
Paul Dinkenor, head coach , collaborated with the other coaches in the CAP-8 about putting Cade in the running for the award. All of the other conference coaches agreed. Most of the CAP-8 coaches went to the state meeting in Greensboro and mentioned Cade to the other coaches across NC. It was then that they decided she should be the one to receive the award.
Cade was just one of the coaches in the running for the award out of a total of 64 high schools across North Carolina.
“This state is full of really good soccer teams and really good coaches, so it means a lot to have this recognition,” said Cade.
Although this award was presented to Cade, she made sure to give the credit to her mentor, Paul Dinkenor.
“I just feel really honored to have someone like Dink to learn from. I know this sounds really cliché, but I feel like I don’t deserve this award. He’s the one behind the scenes and its really nice to have an example of someone as humble and modest as him to learn from. If I could be half the coach he is one day, I would think that’s a good thing.”
Dinkenor has coached soccer for a total of 31 years, making him a great role model for Cade. Last year was their first time coaching together but the chemistry they have on the sideline is unmatched.
“To me, being able to win that award and having that bullet point on my checklist of things I have done is truly a testament to him,” said Cade in closing.
Leave a Reply