University of the Incarnate Word Athletics

Tina Patterson joins an elite group of coaches this year who have spent at least 20 years at the same institution.  Patterson is entering her 20th season as the head coach at University of the Incarnate Word and 21st season with the program overall.

Patterson has guided the program as it has transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I in 2013.  At any level, she has continually produced winning teams and heads into this year with a 236-96-30 record.  She has posted 15 double-digit win seasons against only two losing seasons.

Patterson began her career with UIW by leading the program to seven consecutive postseason appearances that included four Heart of Texas Conference titles and the 1994 NAIA Southwest Regional championship.  It took her only 140 games to reach 100 career wins which she accomplished in the sixth game of the 2001 season.

In her early years with the program, Patterson racked up Coach of the Year honors at an amazing rate.  She was the 1994 NAIA District Coach of the Year after leading UIW to an 11-6-1 record, a Heart of Texas championship and a Regional title.  She followed that with HOT titles in 1995, 1996 and 1998.  In 1997, she was named the NAIA Southwest Region Coach of the Year.  She won the HOT Coach of the Year award in 1995, 1998 and 1999.

UIW joined NCAA Division II in 1999 and quickly had success under Patterson.  The team went 15-3 and played in the national tournament despite not being a member of any conference.  UIW joined the Heartland Conference in 2000 and Patterson guided her team to conference tournament championships in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005.  The Heartland moved away from a conference tournament starting in 2006 and Patterson promptly won conference titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009.  The team reached the postseason five times during that stretch and Patterson was named the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2008.

The 2001 team was arguably the best in school history racking up an 18-2 record.  The squad was Heartland Conference and NCAA Division II Midwest Region champions.  The team boasted Heartland Player of the Year Brooke Hopkins who was also an NSCAA Division II Third Team All-American.

Patterson put together her best three-year win total from 2007-2009 when she led UIW to records of 18-3-2, 14-1-2 and 15-3-3.  The Cardinals were nearly unbeatable in conference play during that time accumulating a 31-2-3 record within the Heartland Conference.  The 2007 team won the NCAA Division II Midwest Region title and finished the year ranked #6 in the nation, the highest ranking in school history.  In each of the three seasons, UIW finished the year ranked no lower than 13th in the nation.

Patterson and UIW joined the Lone Star Conference in 2010 and they just missed going out on top.  In 2012, the team advanced to the LSC Championship game, but lost in overtime to West Texas A&M.

Heading forward, Patterson and the Cardinals have a big challenge as they make the move to NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference in 2013.  She has coached a total of 13 All-Americans and 10 NAIA Scholar-Athlete All-Americans in her career.

A native of Lincoln, Neb., Patterson played high school soccer at Plano in Texas where she was inducted into that school’s hall of honor in the spring of 2012.  She earned her bachelor's degree in kinesiology at Texas A&M University. Her master's degree is from Incarnate Word in sports management.

Playing for the Texas A&M Aggies, she was an All-American.  Before that, she played her freshman year in 1984 for the NCAA national champion University of North Carolina Tarheels. She was the team's rookie of the year.  Following that, in 1986, she was a starting member of the gold medal team at the United States Olympic Festival.

She is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the Women’s Sports Foundation.  She and her husband, Mark are the parents of Katie and Cole.  They reside in San Antonio.