Women's Soccer

Adam Sanchez is entering his tenth season as Head Coach for the Women’s Soccer Program in 2024-25.

In nine seasons at the helm, Coach Sanchez has compiled a record of 138-26-7, captured eight straight Region XI Tournament Championships, and has won seven of the last eight district titles. 16 players have been named NJCAA All-Americans under Coach Sanchez during his tenure at Iowa Western, but more impressively, 66 athletes have achieved NJCAA All-Academic status, and in all nine years his teams have been named as one of the academic teams of the year.

Last year, the Reivers defended their national title, defeating Eastern Florida State College 1-0 on a golden goal from sophomore forward Nicole Navarro.  Iowa Western finished a perfect 18-0-0, outscoring their opponents 88-3, and went undefeated and unscored upon in four games at the NJCAA National Tournament in Wichita, KS.  The Reivers continued their winning streak from the 2022 season which now stands at 36 in a row.

The 2022 season saw the Reivers run through the NJCAA National Tournament in Evans, GA, capturing the program's second national championship. Despite starting the season 1-3-1, IWCC rattled off 18 straight victories en route to the title. As the #9 seed, Iowa Western defeated #4 Polk State and #5 Seminole State in pool play, then took down the defending champions #7 Eastern Florida State in the semi-finals.  That set up a meeting with #10 Salt Lake CC after the Bruins defeated top-ranked and undefeated Tyler JC in PKs.  Freshman Marta Llopis notched the only goal of the game on a penalty kick in the 36th minute, burying it in the right side of the goal.  Freshman Goalkeeper Bella Washington faced and saved five shots on goal to earn her 5th shutout of the year.  Freshman forward Hanna Schimmer was named Tournament MVP and Llopis took home the Offensive MVP honor.  

Before coming to Council Bluffs, Sanchez served as the Head Coach at the College of Southern Maryland.  While at CSM, Coach Sanchez became the winningest coach in program history as well as guiding the school to its first post-season championships in the program's 18-year history. In 2013, the Hawks earned their first trip to the NJCAA National Tournament by winning the 2013 District K Championship dramatically, scoring the golden goal with less than a minute to play in double overtime. The program reached its third consecutive Region XX Championship Match in 2014 narrowly losing 2-1 in the final. Sanchez has mentored 3 NJCAA All-Americans and 6 NJCAA Academic All-Americans. Coach Sanchez earned Maryland Junior College Conference Coach of the Year Honors in 2012 and 2013 and was also named NSCAA North Region Coach of the Year, becoming a finalist for NSCAA National Coach of the Year in 2013. 

In addition to his coaching duties at CSM, Sanchez was also the Director of Coaching for the Waldorf Soccer Club (2014-2015) in which he oversaw player development for all competitive and recreational youth teams. He also developed the youth academy curriculum for ages 5 to 12. 
 
Coach Sanchez started his coaching career with Utah County Strikers Soccer Club, currently Utah FC (2002-2008) in Provo, UT. He served as head coach for various age groups both boys and girls. While with the club, he also served as referee assignor and led goalkeeper training sessions. Sanchez also coached the boys and girls soccer programs at Timpview High School, helping earn multiple regional titles and state tournament appearances. 

Coach Sanchez graduated from Utah Valley University with a B.A. in Spanish. He currently holds his USSF National B License, NSCAA Director of Coaching License, and NSCAA Level III Goalkeeping Diploma. Adam and his wife Becky reside in Council Bluffs with their 4 children.