Kylie Bridenhagen/Winonan

The 2013-14 women’s soccer program began their season this past week while practicing in sultry weather conditions upward to 97 degrees Fahrenheit, and head coach, Ali Omar, found himself amidst all of the action.

This year marks Omar’s 19th season as head coach of the Winona State University’s women’s soccer team. Omar’s coaching history is quite deep, as he started his coaching career for a U.S. under-14 team.

The coach for this team had to step out for that day’s practice, and asked if Omar could step in. He coached for the day, and at the end an onlooker from the sidelines, “had watched and liked what he saw. He suggested to me to start a club team at Winona Senior High School,” Omar said. In the early 1990’s, Omar started the first club team for Winona Senior High School.

Omar, a past student at Winona State, graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management Information Systems in 1992. Women’s soccer was added after Title IX was passed and as a graduate student, Omar was asked if he wanted to become the first head coach for the women’s team in 1995 and has been coaching all teams since then.

Over the past 18 seasons, Omar has helped the team to many successful including six Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament titles, six NSIC Championships, eight conference wins from 2004-2011, and has won NSIC Coach of the year in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011. Omar is ranked ninth on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II all-time victory charts with 241 career wins.

Omar has helped nine of his players win NSIC Player of the Year awards—eight of them consecutive winners from 2002-09. He has also assisted five student athletes to win other Player of the Year awards. Three have won NSIC Defensive Player of the Year, while two others have earned NSIC Newcomer of the Year status.

Coming into the 2013-14 season, Omar’s team is ranked number one in the NSIC preseason poll, receiving 10 out of a possible 16 first-place votes. His biggest goal for the season is to, once again, claim the top spot and finish first in the NSIC. To do this, he said, “We would like to make an appearance at the NCAA tournament but without winning conference, there is no appearance. We will work our way back from NCAA’s. It’s all a process.”

Bryan Ufheil has been the assistant women’s soccer coach since 2004, when he helped assist his first season with the Warriors. Ufheil’s first season with Winona state was a thriving one. His team won both the conference and regular season titles in 2004. Other big accomplishments for Ufheil include assisting goalkeepers Anna Belpedio and Amanda Diehm be named All-Americans 2010 and 2011. He has also played part in coaching six NSIC Players of the Year and three NSIC Defensive Players of the Year. This is Ufheil’s 10th season as the Warriors’ assistant coach.

Going into the season as number one in the NSIC preseason poll is quite a feat for the Warriors who finished with a 16-5 overall record last season. Omar sees that his players are ready to win it all. “They came in showing a different maturity level than last year,” said Omar. “They are more athletically fit and soccer savvy.” And as Omar’s motto says, “Luck is a product of hard work.”

Contact Kylie at [email protected]