Georgia Southern Rifle Coach Sandra Worman Set To Retire
3/11/2022 11:45:00 AM | Women's Rifle
A nationwide search for a new head coach will begin immediately
STATESBORO – Georgia Southern head rifle coach Sandra Worman announced Friday that she will retire from coaching at the expiration of her current contract. After five years leading the program, Worman leaves coaching on a high note as she guided the Eagles to the program's first Southern Conference team title this past weekend in Lexington, Virginia.
In her five seasons as head coach of the Eagles, Worman helped lead her team 58 match wins and five different SoCon team titles, was named conference coach of the year three times, and coached dozens of all-conference honorees and CRCA Scholastic All-Americans as well as a third-place finisher and first-team All-American in air rifle at the NCAA Championship.
"I would like to congratulate Sandra Worman on her upcoming retirement," Director of Athletics Jared Benko said. "Over the past five years, she has served our student-athletes in an exemplary way. We appreciate her dedication to promoting Georgia Southern University and the sport of rifle. Sandra has established very high standards and has positioned the program for continued success. We will miss her around here, but we look forward to seeing her and her family in Statesboro supporting the Eagles!"
This season, her Eagles went a perfect 7-0 in Southern Conference dual matches and went on to win both the smallbore (second year in a row) and overall team SoCon titles. The Eagles also finished the season ranked 17th in the country, a program-best. Erin Ballard won the school's first individual smallbore SoCon title and was named the Smallbore Athlete of the Year, while Ashley Judson was named the Air Rifle Athlete of the Year, and Kinsley Hannon finished third in the discipline. In all, four different athletes earned seven all-conference plaudits. For her efforts, Worman was named the SoCon Coach of the Year and was also named a finalist for the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) National Head Coach of the Year.
The athletics department will not make any further comments on the search for the next head coach until the process is complete. Worman's contract expires on April 30, 2022.
Full Statement from Coach Worman:
"I would like to thank Georgia Southern, Jared Benko, the athletic department, Eagle Nation, the Senior Staff, Brandy Clouse and Bryan Johnston for an amazing five years. They say that coaching is a lonely road, so I'm very grateful to Eagle Nation for all the help and encouragement along the way. I'd also like to thank my fellow coaches, who have been a compassionate and supportive cohort. As the saying goes, 'Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches,' and all coaches have the same cobbler.
"I would also like to extend endless gratitude to Matt Horst and Ashley MacAllister of the SSEC [Shooting Sports Education Center], where the quality of the facility is only outdone by the stewardship and professional care that they extended to us during matches and the mechanics of the day-to-day systems.
"Thank you to the student-athletes who have worked through the grit and the grind year after year in pursuit of excellence. My call to coaching came on the old adage, 'Those who can, do. Those who think others also can, teach or coach.' You have proven again and again, with determination, courage, and little sleep while far from home, that you most certainly can. I am proud of each of you and will continue to send you love and positive energy, for every blade of grass has its champion that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, Grow.'
"This chapter has been extremely rewarding for my husband and me, and I am very grateful to have had this opportunity. We, along with my mother, will be staying in the community, and we look forward to continuing in the wonderful relationships that we've developed here. I particularly want to thank Georgia Southern and the athletic department for the high regard and esteem you've extended to the rifle program. You absolutely and purposefully always treated the program as an equal entity amongst the 17 varsity sports, and the team flourished and thrived in that love, support and attention.
"Thank you for welcoming me into your fold, Eagle Nation. It has been a privilege and a pleasure! GATA!"
In her five seasons as head coach of the Eagles, Worman helped lead her team 58 match wins and five different SoCon team titles, was named conference coach of the year three times, and coached dozens of all-conference honorees and CRCA Scholastic All-Americans as well as a third-place finisher and first-team All-American in air rifle at the NCAA Championship.
"I would like to congratulate Sandra Worman on her upcoming retirement," Director of Athletics Jared Benko said. "Over the past five years, she has served our student-athletes in an exemplary way. We appreciate her dedication to promoting Georgia Southern University and the sport of rifle. Sandra has established very high standards and has positioned the program for continued success. We will miss her around here, but we look forward to seeing her and her family in Statesboro supporting the Eagles!"
This season, her Eagles went a perfect 7-0 in Southern Conference dual matches and went on to win both the smallbore (second year in a row) and overall team SoCon titles. The Eagles also finished the season ranked 17th in the country, a program-best. Erin Ballard won the school's first individual smallbore SoCon title and was named the Smallbore Athlete of the Year, while Ashley Judson was named the Air Rifle Athlete of the Year, and Kinsley Hannon finished third in the discipline. In all, four different athletes earned seven all-conference plaudits. For her efforts, Worman was named the SoCon Coach of the Year and was also named a finalist for the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) National Head Coach of the Year.
The athletics department will not make any further comments on the search for the next head coach until the process is complete. Worman's contract expires on April 30, 2022.
Full Statement from Coach Worman:
"I would like to thank Georgia Southern, Jared Benko, the athletic department, Eagle Nation, the Senior Staff, Brandy Clouse and Bryan Johnston for an amazing five years. They say that coaching is a lonely road, so I'm very grateful to Eagle Nation for all the help and encouragement along the way. I'd also like to thank my fellow coaches, who have been a compassionate and supportive cohort. As the saying goes, 'Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches,' and all coaches have the same cobbler.
"I would also like to extend endless gratitude to Matt Horst and Ashley MacAllister of the SSEC [Shooting Sports Education Center], where the quality of the facility is only outdone by the stewardship and professional care that they extended to us during matches and the mechanics of the day-to-day systems.
"Thank you to the student-athletes who have worked through the grit and the grind year after year in pursuit of excellence. My call to coaching came on the old adage, 'Those who can, do. Those who think others also can, teach or coach.' You have proven again and again, with determination, courage, and little sleep while far from home, that you most certainly can. I am proud of each of you and will continue to send you love and positive energy, for every blade of grass has its champion that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, Grow.'
"This chapter has been extremely rewarding for my husband and me, and I am very grateful to have had this opportunity. We, along with my mother, will be staying in the community, and we look forward to continuing in the wonderful relationships that we've developed here. I particularly want to thank Georgia Southern and the athletic department for the high regard and esteem you've extended to the rifle program. You absolutely and purposefully always treated the program as an equal entity amongst the 17 varsity sports, and the team flourished and thrived in that love, support and attention.
"Thank you for welcoming me into your fold, Eagle Nation. It has been a privilege and a pleasure! GATA!"
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