Becky Burleigh

Coaching career

Burleigh was named the first head coach of the start-up Florida Gators soccer program on June 28, 1994. Through the conclusion of the 2010 season, she has compiled a record of 349–94–28 (.771) as the head coach at the Gators. Burleigh's Gators teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament thirteen of the last fifteen seasons.

In 1998, in the Gators soccer program's fourth year of existence, Burleigh coached the Gators to their first NCAA national title by defeating the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels 1–0 in the final. The 1998 Gators finished 26–1, their only regular season loss coming to the same North Carolina team that the Gators defeated in the NCAA championship final. Players from her 1998 national championship team included All-Americans Danielle Fotopoulos, Heather Mitts and Erin Baxter.

Burleigh's Gators play in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In conference play, her Gators teams have won thirteen SEC championships, and ten SEC tournament titles, leading all other SEC teams since the Florida soccer team began play in 1995.

Prior to coaching at Florida, Burleigh was the head coach at Berry College, located in Mount Berry, Georgia. She was offered the Berry job within weeks of her own college graduation, at the age of 21. From 1989 to 1993, Burleigh compiled an 82–23–6 overall record during her five seasons at Berry, and her Lady Fury teams won two National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championships in 1990 and 1993.

As a head coach, Burleigh has compiled an overall career record of 431–117–34, with a winning percentage of 0.770. She ranks third in total number of all-time wins among Division I coaches, and fourth among active coaches in winning percentage. During her tenure at Florida, Burleigh has coached seventeen All-American players.

Playing career

During her collegiate playing career at Methodist College, Burleigh was a four-year varsity letterman in soccer for the Lady Monarchs, including Methodist's first four seasons as a varsity program. During her four seasons of play, she helped Methodist to a 55–19–4 (.731) record, four Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (DIAC) championships, three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, and a trip to the 1988 Division III Final Four. Burleigh played defense for her first three seasons, and served as the team's goalie as a senior. She was a three-time First-Team All-DIAC selection and earned First-Team All-South honors in 1988. In 1999, she was inducted into the Methodist University Hall of Fame. She played under Head Coach Joe Pereira, who went on to a successful career at Old Dominion University following his departure from Methodist. She attributes him as one of the people she admires.

Personal

Burleigh grew up in Tarpon Springs, Florida, where she began to play youth soccer at the age of ten. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in biology from Methodist College (now known as "Methodist University") located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1989. In 1993, Burleigh earned her master's degree in exercise science from Georgia State University located in Atlanta, Georgia.