Cal State Stanislaus
Women's Soccer Camps
Head Coach Gabriel Bolton
The winningest coach in Cal State Stanislaus women's soccer history, Gabriel Bolton, led the Warriors to the CCAA Semi-Finals and a #14 National Ranking in 2010.
Bolton is credited with turning around one of the worst programs in NCAA history when in his first season, he guided the Warriors to an 11-8-1 record in 2001. In the three years before his arrival, the program tallied a record of 7-48-1. The Warriors were the fourth-most improved women’s soccer program in the nation that season.
In 2006, Bolton began his second stint at Cal State Stanislaus. The Warriors followed a 10-win second-place CCAA North Division in 2007, with a record breaking year in 2008. Cal State Stanislaus set new single-season marks in goals (44), assists (42) and points (130) in 2008. Additionally, the Warriors reached a ranking of No. 23 in the nation and No. 3 in the West Region.
The winning continued in 2009, with the Warriors posting another 10-win season. It was the seventh 10-win season and eighth winning season in the last nine years.
During his time at Cal State Stanislaus, the Warriors have not only excelled on the field but also in the classroom. In 2007, 2008, and 2009, the Warriors were awarded the NSCAA Team Academic Award. In 2008, the women’s soccer team posted an astounding 3.41 team grade point average.
In addition to success on the field and in the classroom, Coach Bolton believes that community service is an important component to the college experience. Over the years, the Warriors have spent significant time volunteering for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Henry’s March.
Bolton’s winning program philosophy has been the foundation of the rapid rise of the Warrior women’s soccer program:
• A belief that a successful program coaches the whole person, not just the athlete.
• A belief that it is his program’s responsibility to build up each student-athlete athletically, academically, and personally.
• A belief in five core values as a Warrior soccer player: (1) Give great effort, (2) Be positive, (3) Compete, (4) Learn and improve, and (5) Play for each other.
• A belief that all of those values should guide his team on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.
Bolton’s all-encompassing approach to building outstanding student-athletes has been, and will continue to be, the basis for future success for the Warrior women’s soccer team.
In between stints at Cal State Stanislaus, Bolton was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at the University of Utah. During his three seasons on “The Hill”, the Utes made three NCAA Division I tournament appearances, won the Mountain West Conference Championship tournament in 2003 and 2004, and posted an overall record of 42-12-8. The program was also ranked in the top 25 nationally all three seasons and in both 2003 and 2004, cracked the nation’s top 15 rankings.
As recruiting coordinator with the Utes, Bolton recruited three nationally-ranked recruiting classes. In 2002 and 2004, his classes were ranked No. 37 in the country and in 2003, his class was ranked No. 17—the highest-ranked recruiting class in Utah and MWC history. During his three years at Utah, Bolton coached 14 all-conference players, 38 academic all-conference players, six NSCAA All-West Region players, five freshmen All-Americans, and two Verizon Academic All-Americans. Utah also received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award all three years.
From 2005 to 2006, Bolton took over as the Girl’s Director of Coaching for the River City United soccer club in Sacramento. He was also the head coach for the RCU Boca Jrs. ‘91 (U14 girls) and RCU Boca Jrs. ‘90 (U15 girls). In 2006, Bolton led the Boca Jrs. ‘91 team to the Cal North State Cup Championship—the first State Cup Championship by an RCU girl’s team in the 38-year history of RCU. He also led the team to a Super Y League Pacific Division Championship and the Super Y League North American Finals, where the team finished second. His Boca Jrs. ‘90 team was two-time United States Club Region G Champions, advanced to U.S. Club Nationals in 2005, and won the 2006 U.S. Club National Championship in Bolton’s last game as coach of the team.
In addition to coaching at the collegiate and club levels, Bolton has been heavily involved in soccer with the Olympic Development Program (ODP). He spent a year as the head coach for the Cal North 1990 State Team. Bolton also spent two years as a head coach in Utah with the ODP. Bolton has coached numerous players that have gone on to play at the U.S. Youth National Team levels and was on the national staff for Super Y League ODP.
Bolton has also coached at the Community College and High School levels. In 1998, he started the women’s soccer program at Sierra College in Rocklin and made it an instant success. His overall three-year record was 41-16-11 and he led the team to the California Community College playoffs in two of the three seasons, including the NorCal Regional Final Four in the second year of the program. In 1996, he turned around Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks, leading them to the Capital Athletic League Championship his first season and the Division I Section Semi-Finals in 1998.
In 2005, Bolton became a certified trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance. The PCA is a non-profit organization started in 1998 at Stanford University that trains coaches to coach using positive motivational techniques. As a trainer, Bolton put on workshops throughout Northern California that helped give youth coaches the tools to positively motivate their players.
Bolton graduated from UC Davis in 1994 with a degree in political science and sociology. He earned his law degree in 1997 from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He is married to Kathy Koumjian Bolton.
