ROCK SPRINGS — Longtime Western Wyoming Community College soccer coach Jeff Atkinson submitted his resignation in November 2019 after being notified by the school that his contract would be terminated. Atkinson coached both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at the school.

The sudden departure of Atkinson follows after a difficult season for the men’s program which ended up in legal issues involving a handful of players on the team.

According to Atkinson, the school informed him in November that they would be “going in another direction” and did not provide Atkinson with further explanation behind their decision.

“Honestly I understand that there were some issues,” Atkinson said. “We weren’t a perfect program ever. There were some issues off the field mainly.”

Both Joy Adams, associate vice president of human resources at Western, and Lu Sweet, athletic director at Western, were contacted, but declined to comment on the resignation.

Sweet did say that she has taken over as interim head coach for both the men’s and women’s soccer programs.

“It wasn’t my decision to leave Western, but it was theirs to part ways with me,” Atkinson said.

“I am not sure what else Western expected of me, especially when they kept me as a part-time employee that coached two college teams while being employed full-time elsewhere,” he said.

Reminiscing on 15 Years

When it comes to the history of National Junior College Athletic Association soccer in the western half of the country, Atkinson is a walking history book on the subject. His 15-year reign over the men’s soccer program at Western first began in August of 2005. At the time, soccer was an afterthought in comparison to other sports. Like the grass on a soccer field, Atkinson’s program grew from a small seed.

That small seed was Western’s club soccer team. After the team’s head coach stepped away, several individuals at the college recommended Atkinson for the position. A phone call soon came, which led him to interview for the job and concluded with his hiring. With very few resources, Atkinson had no time to waste.

“Soccer at Western was in its infancy,” Atkinson said. “I hit the ground running.”

The school had proudly compiled a list of potential recruits. To his surprise there were only seven names listed, four short of the needed 11 for a team. He convinced the seven recruits to join the club team. With very few players, the team posted flyers around the school and held an open tryout.

According to Atkinson, Western’s Athletic Director at the time, Jackie Freeze, told him that if they were going to do it right, he wouldn’t be allowed to cut any girls from the club team. He was eventually able to fill a team through his tryout which included international students, Wyoming natives and out-of-state players.

“It was such a fun mix,” Atkinson said.

After assembling a 20-person roster, including three girls, Atkinson made the most of his first year with the club. At the time there were only two other club teams in the Rocky Mountain region. Laramie County Community College and Western Nebraska along with Western made up the three teams in the Rocky Mountain region.

The lone soccer goal that the Mustangs had to practice with that year proved to be enough as the club took home the state championship the first year.

A year later, in April of 2006, Atkinson was granted his wish to have a men’s varsity soccer team. Unbeknownst to him, the step up to the varsity level proved to be challenging and long. As the newbie team, Western had a difficult time scheduling home games. The team put around 3,000 miles on the road and saw less than four home games in their first year.

“Honestly we didn’t do very good,” Atkinson said. “The step up in the level was big not only for the players but for me. But we kind of just built on from there.”

By the time 2008 came, Western was in the regional championship game. With a few years under his belt, Atkinson better understood recruiting and what it took to build a successful soccer program.

“I think the program grew a lot, but I grew as a coach,” Atkinson said. “Knowing what it took to recruit, the type of kids that I could get up to Western and just knowing what it took to win at the junior college level was a big learning curve. But I think I did OK with it there.”

In 2012, Atkinson had put together what would be his best year overseeing the program. Despite struggling against top ranked opponents all year long, the Mustangs ended up winning the regional championship that season. The team also qualified for the national tournament in Georgia where they lost 3-1 against the first ranked team in the nation.

“We had a group of kids that just believed in each other, believed in what we were doing and knew our identity,” Atkinson said.

Fast forward to present day, there are now 11 teams in the region.

“It’s really grown. We were the most western junior college team in the nation for many years in Rock Springs,” Atkinson said.

“The sport has grown and blossomed quite a bit. It was really cool to see it from its infancy,” he said.

Among Atkinson’s men’s team achievements from August 2005 to November 2019 include:

• 117 overall wins (15 seasons) – WWCC Career Leader in Wins
• NJCAA Region IX Coach of the Year (2012)
• NJCAA Region IX Champions (2012)
• NJCAA West District Runners-up (2012)
• NJCAA National Soccer Tournament Participant – 8th place (2012)
• NJCAA Region IX North Regular Season Champs (2017)
• NJCAA Rankings in Top 25 (2012 and 2015)
• 10 appearances in Region IX tournament
• 6-time Region IX Semifinalist
• NJCAA Region IX Runners-up (2008)
• Wyoming State Club Champions (2005)
• NJCAA Leader in Goals Scored (2007) – Denis Sellis
• NJCAA Leader in Offensive Points (2007) – Denis Sellis
• 27 First Team All-Region IX players
• 44 Second Team All-Region IX players
• 16 Honorable Mention All-Region IX players
• 1 NJCAA National Tournament Team – Mitch Jensen (Keeper, 2012)
• 2 Region IX All-Tournament Team – Grayson Barnes, Ty Nielsen
• 2 Region IX Most Valuable Players – Briston Lowell, Mitch Jensen
• 1 Region IX Freshman of the Year – Mitch Jensen
• NJCAA Keeper of the Week (2015) – Mitch Jensen
• NJCAA Player of the Week (2013) – Bernard Manuel
• 3-time NJCAA Academic Team (2011 – 5th place, 2013 – 5th place, 2015 – 7th place)
• 69 Academic All-Conference players
• 36 Academic All-Region players
• 15 Academic All-American players
• 17 players played soccer at a 4-year school

Double Duty

Atkinson took over as the head coach of the women’s soccer team in May of 2015. Originally, he had made a request to the school to see if it was possible for him to take over the women’s program, but was declined the opportunity. After a fruitless search for a new head coach by the school, they came back and offered Atkinson a one-year deal.

In his first year over the women’s program, Atkinson didn’t have any recruits due to the timing of his hiring.

“If any girl were interested in playing college soccer, we basically took whoever had a pulse. We lucked out and got some wonderful girls that year,” Atkinson said.

The team’s performance in 2015 was mediocre, but the five win season was the first step towards building what was to come.

As the team progressively improved each year, the Mustangs took the final step in 2018. The team ended up winning the regional championship over their foe LCCC and went on to finish as runners-up at the district tournament. Both were firsts for the women’s soccer program.

“It was such a good run that year,” Atkinson said. “We had an outstanding keeper, a defense that was tough and an offense that just worked their tail off.”

Among Atkinson’s women’s team achievements from May 2015 to November 2019 include:

• 46 overall wins (5 seasons) – WWCC Career Leader in Wins
• NJCAA Region IX Coach of the Year (2018)
• NJCAA Region IX Champions (2018)
• NJCAA Great Lakes District Runners-up (2018)
• 4 appearances in the Region IX tournament
• 3-time Region IX Semifinalist
• 3 consecutive years with winning record (2017-2019) a first for WWCC Soccer
• 6 First Team All-Region IX players
• 9 Second Team All-Region IX players
• 4 Honorable Mention All-Region IX players
• 1 Region IX Freshman of the Year – Markell Freeman
• 2 NJCAA Keepers of the Week (2017, 2018) – Lindsey Lemmons, Markell Freeman
• 3-time NJCAA Academic Team (2016, 2017, 2018)
• 28 Academic All-Conference players
• 19 Academic All-Region players
• 16 Academic All-American players
• 6 players played soccer at a 4-year school (5 total in all the years before Atkinson’s tenure)

Moving Forward

Stepping away from coaching will only be temporary for Atkinson.

“I think coaching is in your blood. I don’t think it’s something you can give up. I actually have not sought out soccer jobs,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson is interested in trying out a new sport and seeing where that takes him. For now, he enjoys his current job as a Spanish teacher at Rock Springs High School and believes that when the next coaching opportunity comes, he will be ready.

“As a coach once told me, ‘coaches never retire, they simply die at one point,'” Atkinson said.