Jay Hoffman `72, U.S. World Cup Assistant Coach,

To Receive ESU's Jim Barniak Athletic Award

East Stroudsburg, Pa. - Jay Hoffman `72, assistant coach of the world championship United States national women's soccer team, has been named the 1999 recipient of East Stroudsburg University's Jim Barniak Athletic Achievement Award.

The award, started in 1990, is presented to an ESU alumnus whose after-graduation achievements in the field of athletics have brought honor to the school and pride to all ESU alumni. It will be presented at halftime of Saturday's Homecoming football games between ESU and Cheyney.

Hoffman is an assistant to head coach Tony DiCicco for the U.S. national team which captivated and thrilled the American public this summer in winning the World Cup title.

The former ESU player and coach has been a coaching coordinator for United States Soccer since 1992. He has run coaching courses and worked with national teams at all levels over the last seven years.

Hoffman was head coach of the United States women's Under-18 team which won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada this year.

He also was an assistant coach for the Under-17 men's team in 1993 which finished seventh in the FIFA Under-17 World Championships in Japan. He was an assistant coach for the Under-20 men's team in 1994.

At ESU, Hoffman was a four-year starter for the soccer team from 1968-71 as a fullback and halfback. He was a member of Coach John McKeon's 1969 squad which won the first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship game by beating Lock Haven, 1-0.

He also helped the 1971 squad, which featured All-America goalie Bob Rigby, gain a berth in the NCAA University Division Soccer Tournament. The Warriors bowed to the University of Pennsylvania, 2-0, at Franklin Field, Philadelphia in a first-round game.

He later worked under McKeon as a graduate assistant coach. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1972 and a master's degree in 1977 in Health and Physical Education and Recreation.

Before joining US Soccer, Hoffman coached both profess-ional and college teams.

He was an assistant coach of both the Houston Hurricanes (1978-80) and the Edmonton Drillers (1980-81) of the North American Soccer League. He was head coach of the Buffalo Stallions (1982-83) and an assistant for the New Jersey Rockets (1981-82) and the Cleveland Force (1983-88) of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

On a college level, Hoffman was head coach at Alderson-Broaddus College from 1973-75 and at Fredonia, N.Y. State from 1975-77 and again from 1990-92. The 1975 Fredonia State squad finished fifth in the NAIA National Championships.

Hoffman came to ESU from Womelsdorf, Pa. and attended Conrad Weiser High School. He now makes his home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio with his wife, Susan, and their two children, Scott and Samantha.

Other Barniak Award recipients, with their positions at the time, have been:

1998 - Bill `70 and Donna Strauss `64, coaches of national champions and United States Olympians at the Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center in Allentown;

1997 - Mark Will-Weber `76, senior editor at Runners' World magazine and head cross country at Moravian College;

1996 - Lyle Krall '54, who gained more than 400 victories as baseball coach at Eastern Lebanon High School;

1995 - Helen Diefenbach Lutes `32, the pioneer of women's sports and long-time coach at Mansfield University;

1994 - Fred O'Connor `62, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1978 and an assistant for other NFL and college teams;

1993 - Bob Lombardi `77, associate executive director of the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletic Association;

1992 - Charles Chronister `63, the winningest basketball coach in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference history as head coach at Bloomsburg.

1991 - Gwen Armitage `59, an outstanding high school coach and athletic administrator in the Allentown area;

1990 - Jan Mitten Hutchison `71, coach of numerous championship field hockey and softball teams at Bloomsburg University; and

1990 - The late Jim Barniak `64, sports director of PRISM cable television network in Philadelphia for whom the award is named.

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