GEORGETOWN, Texas – Effectively immediately, Jené Baclawski has stepped down as the head women's soccer coach at Southwestern to accept a position with South Texas Soccer. Jamie Meshew will assume the role of head coach for the remainder of the 2014 season on an interim basis.
A national head coaching position search will begin on November 1st with an anticipated start date in the early part of the spring semester.
"I greatly appreciate the efforts Coach Baclawski has put forth for the University and have a great deal of confidence in Coach Meshew going forward," said Director of Athletics Dr. Glada Munt.
"I would like to thank Southwestern University, the Athletic Department, Dr. Munt, and the community of Georgetown for their continued support to both me and the program over the last seven years," said Baclawski. "This was a very difficult decision, but the right one for me at this time. It has been an absolute pleasure having the opportunity to help mold the lives and careers of so many dedicated young student-athletes. I will always cherish my time at Southwestern and I wish nothing but continued success to the players, administration, coaches and the program."
Baclawski led the Pirates to their best finish ever last season as they finished in second place in the conference in the regular season with a 9-3 mark and fell in the SCAC Conference finals to Trinity. She has been named the Assistant Director of Coaching for the South Texas Youth Soccer Association (STYSA) where she will be providing support for state and region III player development and coaching education programs. STYSA has nearly 100,000 players, coaches, and volunteers and is affiliated with US Youth Soccer and the US Soccer Federation.
This is newly-named Interim Head Coach Jamie Meshew's third season at Southwestern University. A 2005 and 2007 graduate of Vanderbilt University, Meshew was involved with the varsity women's soccer program for the 2001-2002 season. She subsequently founded the Vanderbilt women's club soccer program in the fall of 2002 and played and coached the program that earned five consecutive NIRSAA National Championship berths.
"First I would like to thank Coach Baclawski for her years of service to Southwestern University and the women's soccer program," said Meshew. "She has been a tremendous coach, instructor, and mentor to myself and countless members of the Southwestern community. I wish her the best of luck as she transitions away from the program she loves so dearly and into her next role with South Texas Youth Soccer."
"I would also like to thank Dr. Munt, Jerry Brody, and other members the Southwestern University administration and Department of Athletics for entrusting me with the women's soccer program for the remainder of the 2014 season," continued Meshew. "I accept this new role with the highest level of confidence that, with the support of my colleagues, the administration, and the 28 exceptional young women who are members of this team, I will be able to continue to successfully guide our program along the path of growth and achievement. I am grateful for the opportunity to take this step in my coaching career, and am greatly looking forward to a successful start to conference play this weekend."
Upon graduation, Meshew took her talents to NCAA-I (AA) Belmont University where she was a volunteer assistant coach and volunteer goalkeeper coach for one season. She also has an extensive youth club soccer coaching career spanning nearly 20 years, developing youth soccer players of all ages in Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, and now Texas. In the summer of 2010 she traveled to Klagenfurt, Austria to lead the Girls U18 Team USA squad to a bronze medal in the United World Games. Meshew is also a staff goalkeeper coach with the South Texas Olympic Development Program.
Meshew holds a USSF "A" License, USSF National Goalkeeper License and NSCAA Level 1 Goalkeeper diploma. She is also a member of the inaugural class of the NSCAA 30-Under-30 program for up-and-comers who have made soccer coaching their career of choice. Meshew holds a master of arts in Latin American studies and a bachelor of arts in Spanish from Vanderbilt University.
Southwestern currently sits at 0-6-1 on the season and open SCAC conference action this weekend, facing the University of Dallas on Friday night at 5 p.m. in Irving, Texas.