CAMP DIRECTOR: Rich Posipanko is entering his 20th season at Winthrop and 30th season for his career in 2008. For the past ten years the Eagles have averaged 11 wins per season, including a record of 15-7-1 in 2002 that led to a regular season and tournament championship and NCAA College Cup South Region appearance.  Again in 2006, with a 15-3-4 record the Eagles once again claimed both the Big South regular season and tournament championship as well as making their second appearance in the NCAA College Cup South Atlantic Regional.  In 2005 the Eagles were 12-8-1 and  Big South Conference Runner-Up for the fifth time.  He hopes the team can continue its winning ways and find its way back to the NCAA tournament in 2008.
The Levittown, Pennsylvania, native will look to mold a group of veterans and talented newcomers into a solid team this year which hopefully will make a run at the conference championship and return trip to the NCAA regionals. The 1991 and 2006 Big South Conference Coach of the Year has compiled a career record of 307-207-45 and has a Winthrop mark of 190-158-25.  Posipanko is 15th among active NCAA Division I coaches in total victories.   He is also ranked 27th in All-Time total wins.  In 2002 he became the winningest coach in Winthrop history with 134 wins.  He is also the winningest coach in history at Longwood University with 117 wins (117-49-20).  He is also the All-Time winningest coach in Big South Conference history with 190 victories and 63 Conference wins.  During the 2007 Posipanko reached the 300  win mark and joined an elite group of only 52 coaches in NCAA history (all divisions) and 25 coaches at the Div. I level to reach this plateau.  Before coming to Winthrop, Posipanko spent 10 successful years as head coach of Longwood University in Virginia where he compiled a record of 117-49-20. During his last seven years at "The Wood", Posipanko guided his squads to the NCAA Division II Top 20 each season and also developed seven All-Americans.
Posipanko better known as "Gaffer or Gaff" by his players and peers has had a long list of success through his years of coaching. Prior to his position at Longwood, Posipanko served as the assistant coach at College of New Jersey (formally known as Trenton State College) for three years. He also coached the Virginia State Team in the Olympic Development Program from 1986-1989. While at Longwood, Posipanko was honored three times — 1982, 1984, and 1986 — as the Virginia Coach of the Year and in 1982 he was tabbed Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year.  In addition to his college coaching experience, Posipanko coached professionally serving as assistant coach of the Houston Dynamos in the United States Soccer League in 1985.  Posipanko is dedicated to soccer and spends much of his free time trying to improve the college game and give back to the local community with many summer soccer camps.  He has served on numerous committees including the NCAA Academic All-American Selection Committee; chair of the Intercollegiate Soccer Association of America South Rating Board; chair of the NCAA Soccer Selection Committee for the south region; President of the Virginia Intercollegiate Soccer Association; and 1992 President of the Big South Conference Soccer Coaches.
During his 29 years of collegiate coaching he’s had 124 All-Conference players, 47 All-Region selections, 11 All-Americans, three Olympic team players, 22 Academic All-Americans, and six National Team Players.  A 1974 graduate of Slippery Rock University with a degree in health and physical education, Posipanko earned his master’s degree in the same field with a concentration in administration and athletic management in 1979 from the College of New Jersey (Trenton State College).