Success Through the Big Picture: Canning Ready for New Role

Starting a new job always has its challenges. When one is passionate not only about the position they are moving into, however, but also the place and city they will be working in, things get a bit easier.

That is exactly the situation Bronxville resident Michele Canning currently finds herself in, after finding what she calls the perfect match at New York University in Manhattan. After spending her last six years on the sidelines at St. John’s University in Queens as the Red Storm’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, Canning this summer signed on to be NYU’s women’s head soccer coach, and this fall will enter her first season at the helm of a major soccer program.

It goes without saying that when the opportunity to become NYU’s head soccer coach presented itself, Canning she jumped at it.

“I was really excited about the opportunity when I saw the position open,” Canning said. “NYU is a well respected university and I love being in New York. At NYU there have been a lot of teams that have had a lot of success so I feel there is a great chance for us to be successful.”

Canning, who approaches the game of soccer from the ground up, says she is a firm believer that if long-term goals are sought after with seriousness and patience, short-term success will take care of itself. The ‘98 Seton Hall graduate and former Pirate player – who scored the first goal in program history in ’94 – said her objectives as coach revolve around not only the athletic development of her players but also their personal development, something she is confident she will be able to accomplish in her new position at NYU.

“NYU is such a great fit for that,” Canning said. “It’s a great university and the city has so much to offer students. My long-term goal for the soccer players is for them to develop as people. I believe that if you are focused on that in the long-term, the short-term success on the field comes as a result.”

Of course, Canning will have her own adjustments to make this fall, as after coaching in the Big East Conference with the Red Storm for half a decade, she will now move into the All-University Athletic Association, and lead the Violets against the likes of Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, Emory University, the University of Rochester and the University of Chicago.

“It’s all the major research universities in the country,” Canning said. “They made the decision to create this conference so that it would be highly competitive athletically but at the same time the focus of the student-athletes will always be academic.”

Her new conference’s emphasis on academics sits well with Canning, who during her time with St. John’s recruited three players who went on to be named academic All-Americans.

“The academics are very important because it’s not like playing soccer is going to be a career,” Canning said. “Players who are focused on having goals and finishing them will be prepared for whatever they want in life next. If you are recruiting students who are excelling in the classroom, it’s probably because of their work ethic and for the most part that translates into what they do on the field as well.”

That certainly was the case for the teams Canning helped coach at St. John’s, as in four of the six years she was there the Red Storm enjoyed winning seasons. She also helped the Red Storm to possibly its most successful season ever in 2009, when St. John’s made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and earned its first ever national ranking (No. 17). It must be noted that her efforts while coaching in Queens went far from unnoticed, as in February of this year she was named St. John's Outstanding Coach Award in February ’11.

“It was such an exciting time,” Canning said. “There were so many special players that were there. I had watched them develop and they worked so hard to achieve their goals. As a coaching staff, it showed that the model that we were using works. You can be good in academics; you can be good people and be good on the field. It showed that you can be successful at all of them.”

Canning hopes she will be able to bring that model and success to NYU, starting on September 1 when the Violets host Ramapo College at Gaelic Park at 7 p.m.