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Spring 2003 | Volume 26, Number 2 | Athletics
Former Falcon Player and Aide Hired as New Head Coach for Women’s Soccer

FOLLOWING A NATIONWIDE SEARCH for a new women’s soccer coach, the best candidate for the position turned up in Seattle Pacific University’s own backyard. Chuck Sekyra is not only a Puget Sound area native, but also an SPU alumnus and well-respected women’s coach.

Sekyra was introduced to his players February 24 — two months after Bobby Bruch resigned his post. The new coach is a 1989 graduate of Seattle Pacific, played on two of the Falcons’ NCAA championship teams and assisted head men’s soccer coach Cliff McCrath from 1998 to 1999.

For the past three seasons, Sekyra served as assistant women’s soccer coach at the University of Washington. He was active in recruiting, scouting, training session development andfund raising. In his first year, the Huskies had their finest season, winning the Pac-10 championship, advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and going 18-3-0. Sekyra is also head coach of the Washington state ODP (Olympic Development Program) Girls Under-16 team, Region IV ODP staff coach and former soccer coordinator for Arena Sports.

“Coach Sekyra rose to the top of a distinguished pool of applicants because he is a respected leader with deep roots in the Northwest soccer community,” notes SPU Athletic Director Tom Box. “Our team’s future will be in good hands.”
Sekyra says he is energized about returning to his alma mater. “To have the opportunity to come back to the place where I was first inspired to become a coach is very motivating. I have very high goals for this program.”

The Seattle Pacific women’s program has been in existence for only two seasons, but the Falcons won their final nine games en route to the 2002 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship and a record of 13-4-2. Of the 24 players on the squad, 23 are eligible to return in 2003.


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From the President
Cultivating hope in the face of chaos is vital today. "This is the time for a Christian university to dig down deep into its formative foundations… and decide quite clearly what bread we have to offer,” says President Philip Eaton.

Volumes of Volumes
SPU Library resources will top 22 million items in 2003. Starting this summer, materials can be ordered online from the new “Orca” catalog through the Orbis Cascade Alliance. [Campus]

Homecoming 2003: The Weekend in Photos
From fast-paced hoops to class reunions where former classmates reconnected, Homecoming 2003 was a picture-perfect weekend. See the action here. [Alumni]

The World of Teng Chiu
Seattle’s Frye Museum spotlights an art collection owned by an SPU professor and her husband. Chinese artist Teng Chiu’s work has largely been forgotten, but Joanna Poznanska is helping to reintroduce him to the West. [Faculty]

My Response
“The soldier and chaplain are each unique callings fulfilled by those who respond to the call of the nation and to the call of God,” says Chaplain (Major General) Gaylord T. Gunhus, U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains.