The Loyola (MD) women’s soccer team and head coach Katherine Vettori are pleased to announce the hiring of Lincoln Phillips as an assistant coach, as announced by the athletic department on Thursday.

Phillips, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, spent the last seven years as the Technical Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Men’s Senior National Team, where he helped guide the small islands of Trinidad and Tobago to their first-ever World Cup appearance in 2006.

“We are excited to welcome Lincoln to the Loyola women’s soccer family,” said Vettori. “His experience at all levels of soccer, including coaching and playing at the highest level internationally, will be an asset and give a new perspective at Loyola. Lincoln’s knowledge of the game and desire to teach will help our student-athletes grow both on and off the field.”

Phillips was a former U.S. National Team Goalkeeper Coach and is one of only 12 FIFA Licensed coaches.  He is regarded by many as the best goalkeeper that Trinidad and Tobago has ever produced.

Throughout his professional career, which included stints both overseas and in the United States, Phillips was a goalkeeper for Maple from 1960-63 and the Defence Force from 1964-67 before coming to the Baltimore area, where he played for the Baltimore Bays and the Washington Darts from 1968-73.

Following his playing career, Phillips spent three years as the goalkeeper coach for the U.S. National Team from 1992-94, helping the squad qualify for the 1994 World Cup. He then served as a FIFA Staff Goalkeeper instructor from 1994-05, conducting coaching development workshops for FIFA in the Caribbean and Asia.

Phillips began his coaching career at Howard University, where he led the men’s soccer team to two NCAA Division I National Championships in 1971 and 1974, becoming the first African-American coach to win an NCAA title.

Following a 10-year stint with the Bison, Phillips became the athletic director at Newport Preparatory Schools in Kensington, Md., where he served from 1981-86.

He then spent three years as the Head Coach/General Manager of the Maryland Bays, before taking on the challenge as head coach of the men’s soccer team at Virginia Commonwealth from 1991-95. While at the helm of the Rams’ program, he led VCU to its first-ever top-25 ranking.

During that period, Phillips had also already been running the Lincoln Phillips Soccer School, which had a 20-year run from 1975-1995. He also served as a National Schools Staff Instructor from 1983-2001.

Phillips brings 50 years of coaching and playing experience to Loyola, and is also the author of two books. One was an instructional book released in 1996 entitled, “Soccer Goalkeeping: The Last Line of Defense, the First Line of Attack,” and the other an autobiography called, “KEEPER! Rising Above and Beyond the Crossbar: An Autobiography.”

A goalkeeper at Burke’s College from 1954-57 and then for Queen’s Royal College from 1958-59, Phillips received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in physical education from Howard.

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