UNC women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance has been named the 2016 winner of the Werner Fricker Builder Award – U. S. Soccer’s highest honor.

The award is given to an individual or group who have dedicated at least 20 years of services to the sport, working to establish a lasting legacy in the history and structure of soccer in the United States, according to a release.

Dorrance is a former head coach of the Women’s National Team.

U. S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said in a statement:

“Anson has worked tirelessly over the years to build a program at North Carolina that led the way for other universities to invest in women’s soccer, and from which soccer in the U.S. has benefited tremendously for the past three and a half decades. His work with the National Team and with National Team players at the collegiate level has helped to grow the game at home and abroad, and his legacy in soccer will certainly be felt for many years to come.”

Dorrance said, “It’s an extraordinary honor to be given the award named for the very man who made my U.S. Women’s National Team dream come true.”

Dorrance is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and led the USA to its first Women’s World Cup title in 1991. Dorrance took over as the men’s soccer coach at Carolina in 1976 before taking on the women’s job simultaneously in 1979. Dorrance focused solely on the women’s program starting in 1988 and has led the Tar Heels to 21 NCAA titles out of 34 that have been held. Dorrance is an eight-time National Coach of the Year and nine-time ACC Coach of the Year. He is the winningest coach in college soccer history and 19 different Tar Heels have been named National Player of the Year during his tenure.

The award is named for Werner Fricker who served as U.S. Soccer President from 1984 to 1990 and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1992.

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