YouTube Interview with Coach LeGates
Coach Legates is in his 16th season at the helm of the Blue Jays soccer team. LeGates has led the Blue Jays to an overall record of 132-109-19 (.544) during his tenure including a school-record 14 wins in 2008 and again in 2010. LeGates has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Coach of the Year four times and is the only current GNAC coach to earn the honor four times. He is also the winningest women's soccer coach in GNAC history.
LeGates led the University of Saint Joseph to a school-record eight conference wins (8-2-2) in 2008, matched in 2010 (8-3-1) and 2011 (8-4-1). The Blue Jays have received four bids to the ECAC tournament since 2005 and in 2011 won an ECAC tournament game for the first time with a 3-2 victory at Salve Regina. Saint Joseph has reached the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament in each of the past four seasons and five of the past six.
Under Coach LeGates, Saint Joseph has seen unprecedented success in recent years, going 80-37-18 over the past seven seasons. In all, 40 Blue Jays have earned All-Conference accolades under LeGates including the 2006 GNAC Rookie of the Year in goalkeeper Cait Witham and 2010 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Kristin Whitman. Defender Susie McKenna became the school's first All-New England selection in '08 and was joined by Witham in '09.
LeGates' teams have historically been very strong on the defensive end of the field capitalizing on counter-attacks relying on athleticism and excellent ball-handling in the offensive end.
Coach LeGates is currently the U-17 premier coach for the Academica Futbol Club as well as the technical director for the program. He is a managing partner and director of the Collegiate Soccer System which operates camps, clinics and training of soccer players throughout New England. Coach LeGates has been involved in the Connecticut Olympic Development Program and he has established himself as lecturer and clinician in the region.
Prior to his coaching career, LeGates graduated from Division I University of Hartford, where his team won the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championship and went to the Final 16 in the NCAA National Tournament in 1991. He holds an Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). LeGates resides in Springfield, Mass. with his wife Jill and their son Jack.
Coach Gildea is in her seventh season as Legates' assistant coach.
As a player, Gildea was a two-time All-GNAC pick in 2004 and 2005 at Saint Joseph after transferring from Central Conn. She had 13 goals and 11 assists in 2004 and followed that with 13 goals and 12 assists in 2005. Her assist total from 2005 is a single-season school record and her two 13-goal seasons are tied for third most in school history.
Gildea works as an Emergency Room nurse at the Hospital of Central Connecticut. She is a native of Enfield.
