Retired Yavapai College Men’s Soccer Coach Michael Pantalione has been selected for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Foundation Hall of Fame and will be recognized during a June 17 ceremony in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He is the winningest men’s soccer coach in the association’s history and part of the fifth annual class of inductees for the hall.
The first head men’s soccer coach at YC, Pantalione racked up a 636-63-30 record, including seven national championships, 19 Final Fours and a combined 71 region, district and conference titles. His initial recruiting class captured the 1990 NJCAA National Title.
In the history of men’s intercollegiate soccer, he has the distinction of being the only coach at any level to average more than 20 wins per season, and compiled the highest winning percentage on record. He also is the record leader in JUCO (National Junior College Athletic Association) wins (636).
In 1995, he was selected as the recipient of the NSCAA/NISOA National Merit Honor, awarded by the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, now known as United Soccer Coaches. In 2006, he was the first active coach elected to the NJCAA Soccer Hall of Fame. In 2012, he received the NJCAA National Service Award given to those who have made significant contributions to junior college athletics.
In 2015, he was awarded the NSCAA Letter of Commendation, presented for unusual achievement that clearly exceeds performance requirements, expectations and contributions beneficial to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and soccer in the United States. In 2016, he was the recipient of the prestigious NSCAA Bill Jeffrey Award recognizing long-term service and contribution to collegiate soccer. That same year, he was the first active coach in a men’s sport elected to the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.
Additional honors include seven NJCAA and five NSCAA National Coach of the Year Awards along with being named NSCAA West Region Coach of the Year 18 times. In 2021, Yavapai College ensured the legacy created by the successful soccer program by naming their new campus field Michael Pantalione Field.
To acknowledge his achievement with emphasis on success and lifetime of devotion to the game, in 2022, he became the 73rd inductee into the United Soccer Coaches National Hall of Fame during the 82nd annual Soccer Coaches Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
