KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After leading Tennessee Southern to its third national championship in team history, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced that head coach Will Austin was named the Select Sport America - NAIA Women's Soccer Coach of the Year on Thursday. This is Austin's first time winning the prestigious honor.

Austin led the Firehawks to a 23-1 overall record including a thrilling win in penalties to secure the team's third championship in school history, the first since being re-named University of Tennessee Southern.

After dropping its lone match of the year on October 28 to Cumberland (Tenn.) 2-1, the team rebounded to win nine straight to capture the red banner in Orange Beach, Ala. While Austin's teams are regularly considered an offensive powerhouse, his team put that talent on full display in the national championship in 2021. The Firehawks led all teams in nearly every offensive category including goals (27) and goals per game (5.40) across all national championship opening round and final games.

In addition to the gaudy offensive output when it counted the most, the team featured three, NAIA Women's Soccer All-America First Team selections. Yuki Watari, Adisa Amang and Keito Ido all were named to the top team. Ido was the nation's leading goal scorer in 2021 with 39 to her credit. Watari and Amang were ranked No. 1 and 2 in assists on the year while all three were in the top 10 in points.

In addition to these accolades, Amang was named the 2021 National Championship Most Outstanding Offensive Player while Watari was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship.

The 2021 Select Sport America-NAIA National Coach of the Year is voted on by the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches Association and is announced at the annual National Convention. To be eligible, a head coach must be selected as their conference or unaffiliated group coach of the year or lead their team to the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Final Site.