Dave McLeish, one of the most experienced and successful soccer coaches in Southern California, has just finished his sixth year as the Soka women’s soccer head coach, leading the Soka Lady Lions to their winningest season in the history of the program in 2014 and their first Cal Pac Playoffs in 2015.
Prior to this, McLeish served as the head coach of the Premier Development League team, the Southern California Seahorses, a member of the of the professional United Soccer Leagues. There he guided the Seahorses to 44 wins, 27 losses, 6 ties, a Western Conference Championship and a National Semi-Final in their first four seasons.
McLeish has also served as the head coach for Cerritos College, Biola University, Vanguard University and Santiago Canyon College, winning over 200 games. Through these years he was able accomplish many highlights and firsts. He led Cerritos College to their first Conference Championship in their ten-year history. He led Biola to their first trip to the NAIA National Championships in their twenty-year history and to a tenth place National finish in 1981. He was also able to guide Vanguard University to twelve NAIA district play-off berths and a National Ranking of 16th in 2000. In 1990 he was named the Far West Region NAIA Coach of the Year. He also has been inducted into The Biola Athletic Hall of Fame and The Vanguard Athletic Hall of Fame.
McLeish has coached Edison, Dana Hills and Marina high schools, where his teams won ten league championships and over 300 games in 23 seasons.
Dave has served as a coach in the CYSA-S and the Region IV ODP programs. His ODP teams won National Championships in 2013 and 2014. He also served as the Region IV Boy’s ODP head coach for the Western United States.
From 1994-98, he licensed more than 1,300 youth coaches for CYSA-S through their coaching education program.
Coach McLeish worked two years as USSF National Team Scout for National Team coaches Bora Milutinovic and Steve Samson.
He is a graduate of Cal State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education, a Minor in Spanish and a California Secondary Teaching Credential. He holds a USSF "A" License.
Dave is married to Becky McLeish and they resided in San Clemente California.
