SPOKANE, Wash. -- The last coach to lead Whitworth to a conference title in women’s soccer will retake the reins of the Pirates next fall. Whitworth Director of Athletics Scott McQuilkin has announced that Daman Hagerott will return to the position he held from 1993-96.

Sean Bushey, who posted a 123-90-16 record in the 12 seasons since Hagerott stepped away as the women’s head coach, has resigned to focus exclusively on the men’s team.

“This is a bad news - great news announcement for me,” said McQuilkin. “It’s bad news that Sean is stepping away from the women’s program that he has so successfully led for 12 years. It is great news for the women’s program that Daman Hagerott will return as head coach and great news for Whitworth Soccer that we have two coaches of this caliber heading our programs.”

Daman Hagerott

During his four seasons leading the Pirates in the mid-90’s, Hagerott posted a record of 46-22-5 and won or shared NCIC championships in 1993 and 1995, earning conference Coach of the Year honors in 1995. He coached Janay Mountain (1994) and Jennifer Tissue (1995 and 1996) to NCIC Player of the Year awards. Tissue was an NAIA All-American later selected in the inaugural draft of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA).

“I am privileged to have the opportunity to serve as Whitworth’s women’s soccer coach again,” said Hagerott. “It is an early Christmas gift.”

Hagerott stepped away as head coach of the women’s team to pursue a doctoral degree, but continued to serve as an assistant coach with Bushey in 1997. An associate professor in Whitworth’s kinesiology department throughout his tenure, Hagerott took a sabbatical in 2000 to study and work at Gonzaga, during which he was an assistant for the Bulldogs women’s team in 2000 and 2001. Hagerott resumed his teaching and assistant coaching duties at Whitworth in 2002 and continued through 2007. He did not coach this past fall.

“I am grateful to the administration for its support and vision for the future of women’s soccer at Whitworth,” Hagerott continued. “I look forward to carrying on the tradition of excellence established by Sean, and I am excited to have the opportunity to work with an exceptional group of women as they pursue their athletic and academic aspirations.”

Sean Bushey

Bushey just concluded his 12th season as the Pirate women's head coach. Over the last six years the Whitworth women were 80-30-7 and finished second in the NWC standings three times. In 2007 the Bucs earned their first ever NCAA Division III tournament bid as an at-large participant and defeated UC Santa Cruz in the first round of the tournament. Bushey was named the 2007 NWC Women's Coach of the Year.

Throughout all 12 of those seasons, Bushey has also served as the head men’s coach for the Pirates, earning five Northwest Conference titles during the 13 seasons he has led Whitworth’s men.

“I have enjoyed my time immensely with the players and considered it an incredible blessing to have been able to coach both programs for the past 12 seasons,” said Bushey. “Unfortunately coaching takes so much energy that I just did not think I could keep the pace necessary to continue to make this Whitworth athletic experience all that the players deserve.”

At the time of his hire as women’s coach at Whitworth, several schools within the Northwest Conference used one coach for both soccer programs. However, it has been five seasons since Bushey became the last coach within the NWC coaching both of his school’s teams. In addition to training, scheduling and recruiting for two programs simultaneously, in 2007 Bushey was forced to fly from Spokane to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to Tacoma over the course of about 36 hours to coach both Whitworth’s men and women in the NCAA Division III tournament.

“Sean gave everything of himself, and did so equitably to both teams,” said McQuilkin. “Considering all that it took to operate both programs, the competitive success of both programs is remarkable.”

Hagerott will inherit a team that finished 15-4-1 in 2008 and returns several key starters.

“Our women’s program loses a superior coach and gain an exceptional coach,” said McQuilkin. “Daman is recognized as an intelligent tactician, as a tremendous practice coach, and as a better person. I can’t express how pleased I am to have Daman return to our staff as the Head Women’s Soccer Coach.”