After seven successful seasons, the reign is over.
Women's Soccer Head Coach Steve Swanson will leave Dartmouth at the end of this term to take on the position of head coach at Stanford University.
"My family and I struggled a long time" with the decision, Swanson said. "Everyone needs change in their lives. This is not for negative reasons. Change makes you grow."
Swanson begins his job at Stanford June 1st.
Swanson expects that his new team at Stanford will be fairly similar to the one at Dartmouth.
"For the past four or five years, we have recruited head-to-head with them for the same type of students," Swanson said.
One aspect of Stanford athletics that Swanson looks forward to is the greater availability of resources, most notably, the chance to offer scholarships.
Stanford also boasts an academic climate similar to that of Dartmouth.
"I wouldn't want to go to a school that didn't stress the most important part of college. And that's academics," Swanson said.
In July of 1989, coming off a four-year stint playing professional soccer with the Windsor Wheelers of the Canadian National Soccer League and the Chicago Shoccers and the Milwaukee Wave of the National Professional Soccer League, the Dartmouth Athletic Department snagged Swanson, hiring him for the position of women's soccer coach.
After just two seasons with the Big Green, Swanson coached his team to Dartmouth's first-ever Ivy League title in 1991. He followed that with another Ivy title two years later in 1993.
As if that wasn't enough, Swanson brought his team one step higher, gaining NCAA tournament bids in both 1993 and 1994 -- another first for the Big Green women's soccer program.
In 1993, Dartmouth broke into the national top 20, remaining there through this past season. In both 1993 and 1994, the team finished the season ranked 14th in the country.
"My tenure at Dartmouth has been tremendous. I can't say enough good things, mostly due to the players. If I have those kinds of players, those kinds of people [at Stanford], I'll be blessed again," Swanson said.
While at Dartmouth, Swanson worked alongside then-men's soccer coach Bobby Clark. Swanson and Clark will become a team again starting this summer, as Clark was hired as the head men's soccer coach at Stanford April 8.
"The addition of Steve will be great for Stanford soccer," Clark said. "And from a personal perspective it is great for me to team up with Steve once again. We enjoyed a wonderful relationship during our time at Dartmouth, and we aim to recapture that special spirit which bonded our men's and women's soccer programs."
Swanson is confident that the Dartmouth women's soccer program will continue to thrive in the coming years.
"For the [Dartmouth] team, there are a lot of unknowns," Swanson said. "It's a strong program, though, and the people there will keep it going."
