De Anza Athletic Director Kulwant Singh receives prestigious NATYCAA honor
CLEVELAND — The National Association of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) announced that Past President and De Anza College (Calif.) Athletics Director Kulwant Singh is the 2020 recipient of the Association's L. William Miller Award.
The L. William Miller Award is presented annually to a member of NATYCAA who demonstrates excellence in leadership, service and integrity in an athletics program at a two-year college or organization. The award is named after Miller, one of NATYCAA's Founding Fathers who enjoyed an illustrious career at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, where he coached track and cross country from 1966-73 and was the director of athletics from 1966 through his retirement in 1994.
Singh is currently in his 16th year as the director of athletics at De Anza, where he oversees 17 intercollegiate athletics programs with approximately 400 student-athletes and 70 faculty and staff. De Anza has won the Coast Conference's All-Sports Championship for 12 straight years and 25 out of the past 35. The program is just as impressive in the classroom, as the student-athlete body averages approximately a 3.0 GPA.
Singh is the current President of the California Community College Athletic Directors Association (CCCADA) (2019-20) and after two previous terms has returned as a member of the CCCAA Management Council. He is also active on several current CCCAA Statewide Committees including the Return to Play COVID-19 workgroup. Singh previously served on CCCAA Policy, Completion, Diversity and Inclusion, and Social Media Committees. He served as the President of the Coast Conference in 2005 and 2006.
An accomplished soccer coach prior to moving into the administrative ranks, Singh was inducted into the California Community College Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December 2011. He coached De Anza's men's soccer team for 17 years, winning two state championships and 11 Coast Conference Championships. Singh also guided De Anza's women's soccer team for seven years and captured two more state championships, four NorCal Championships and four Coast Conference Championships.
Singh was also an assistant coach on Cal State East Bay Hayward's 1988 NCAA Division II National Championship Team, which was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2019.
Additionally, Singh has another National Championship and Gold Medal with the National and Olympic Teams Program in Amateur Women's Soccer where 15 of those players went on to play professional soccer in the W-USA League. He was named Community College National Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1995.
Singh, who remains active on the NATYCAA Executive Committee, served as the Association's President in 2015-16 and was recognized as a NACDA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year in 2016.
About NATYCAA: Now in its 32nd year, NATYCAA is the professional organization of two-year college athletics administrators and membership open to all two-year institutions from throughout the country. NATYCAA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 55th year. For more information on NACDA and the 17 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.