Residents of central Wisconsin can annually count on two things every fall: A beautiful change of seasons and a winning record from the UW-Stevens Point women's soccer program under head coach Sheila Miech. The only coach in UW-Stevens Point history enters her 22nd season in 2008 with a 301-99-28 overall record.
Ranking fifth on the all-time NCAA Division III wins list amongst active coaches, Miech was just the second female coach in any division of NCAA women’s soccer to reach 300 career victories. Miech has guided the Pointers to 20 consecutive winning seasons, marking the fourth-longest current streak in Division III.
Miech's best success has come in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play where she has lost just seven regular season matches in the 16-year history of the league. She owns a staggering 107-7-7 career record in regular season conference matches, having won 12 conference championships. Miech guided the Pointers through the longest conference winning streak in NCAA history with 70 straight WIAC wins from 1997 to 2003.
Her WIAC tournament resume is just as impressive, sporting a 37-4 all-time record with 12 conference tournament titles in the 16-year history of the event. The Pointers have made 12 NCAA tournament appearances and were the only WIAC school ever to qualify for the postseason prior to 2005.
A 1978 UW-Stevens Point graduate, Miech earned the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the sixth time in the 16-year history of the league in 2004. In 2000, she was the Division III Central Region Coach of the Year for the third time in her career as the Pointers qualified for the Division III final four.
A standout athlete at UW-Stevens Point during her undergraduate days, she earned Female Athlete of the Year honors as a senior. Continuing her association with UW-Stevens Point following graduation, she has been an instructor in the Department of Health, Exercise Sciences and Athletics (HESA), earning various awards for her teaching.
Miech is a native of Wausau and a graduate of Wausau West High School. She and her husband, John, who is the winningest football coach in UW-Stevens Point history, have two sons, Jesse and Ryan, and reside in Park Ridge.
