"Burke hard, play hard"

When Buffalo announced on Nov. 7, 2013 that former women’s soccer head coach Michael Thomas would not be returning after six seasons, Athletic Director Danny White confirmed that a national search for a new coach would commence.

Different from his other hires, however, White found his man on the Bulls’ sideline – assistant coach Shawn Burke.

"We have been well aware of Shawn's talents and, after searching the country, we determined that he is the best fit for our program moving forward," White said in a press release statement on Jan. 8. "Shawn has connections with our current student-athletes and our recruiting base and he knows what it will take to win in the Mid-American Conference."

Burke, who has been the assistant coach at UB since 2009, takes over as head coach of the women’s soccer team. Burke said the program was looking for a coach that can relate to the players and their needs. The team had to look no further than within its own ranks.

“It is easy getting up for the 7 a.m. practices because it is a job that is so fun, you cannot even call it work,” Burke said. “[The players and I] want the same things. I understand them and they respect my coaching ethics.”

As the assistant, Burke was able to grow and maintain relationships with many players on the current roster. Many of the players think it’s because he is an approachable, down-to-earth coach who strives for success. Others say it is because he understands the charisma and demeanor it takes to play from a players’ perspective.

Burke is from Cleveland – a mecca for sports as the Indians, Browns and Cavaliers have created some of the most intense and emotional sport fanatics in the country. Despite the surplus of professional sports growing up in Berea, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the Burke family embraced soccer as its own national pastime.

“I remember Shawn rolling a soccer ball back and forth before he could even walk,” said Jay, Burke’s brother. “Shawn had phenomenal opportunities growing up, especially with me and dad as his earliest coaches.”

Burke knew he was a gifted player from an early age, as he played and succeeded against his older brother as children. If you were to ask Burke, he would not hesitate to tell you that his soccer skill was not entirely a natural phenomenon. He gives credit to his two biggest coaches: his brothers and his father, Dennis.

“I was playing with my brothers in the backyard when I was 10 years old,” Burke said. “I would always try my hardest and usually lose, but dad was right there coaching me up. He would teach me ways to try and beat him. It was that perseverance that helped define my playing and coaching style today.”

The dedication that his father, Dennis, instilled on his son was a solemn reminder for young Burke to keep playing the sport he loved. Burke thought his love had reached a zenith before he hit puberty, but little did he know that the summer of 1994 would change his life and outlook on the game.

Burke had made it a point to make soccer his focus of the summer – in every aspect possible. At the time, the United States was hosting the World Cup, soccer’s premier international tournament.

With the World Cup taking place in the United States, it gave most Americans a reason to rediscover their nationalism and watch soccer throughout the early summer. For Burke, it was a month of bliss and soccer harmony, culminating with the attendance of matchups in Detroit and Chicago.

“I have always had a passion for [soccer], but it really started during the World Cup,” Burke said. “I was able to go to the United States opening game against Switzerland, where they tied 1-1.”

The appreciation Burke had for the game only begun as he entered the summer of 1994 and played for his Ohio travel team. He practiced every day and played a few games a week.

For two weeks in that summer of ‘94, Burke went to Sweden to play in the Gothia Cup tournament for youth soccer with 54 other countries.

“It was surreal,” Burke said. “Being in Sweden at the time was equivalent to being in Buffalo if the Sabres won the Stanley Cup.”

The experience was monumental for Burke in many ways. Perhaps the most important piece of information he absorbed was the expression of soccer all around the world. At the time, soccer was only televised during the World Cup and on few occasions in the United States. In other countries, soccer was a lifestyle.

To Burke, the scores of the game did not matter. All that was important to him was the experience. He was given the chance to learn from players around the world who have adopted the game as their national sport. It was that summer where it was evident that Burke was going to eventually turn his passion into his profession.

“The game offers a certain passion that many cannot understand,” Burke said. “Until that passion fades, I cannot see myself doing anything else.”

Burke has stuck to his goal since the summer of 1994, as he continued his soccer career throughout high school and eventually into college at Mercyhurst University.

Entering his freshman year, Burke was vigorously training when he started to feel pain coming from his shin. Hoping it was a bruise that would go away soon, he kept on training. It got to a point where he had to see the team doctor as he entered camp. What he heard was his worst nightmare.

Doctors told him he had a stress fracture in his shin and would miss six weeks.

Mercyhurst was coming off of one of its best seasons in program history and many players were returning. He decided to redshirt his freshman year to concentrate on rehabilitation and conditioning in to become an impact player for the following years.

During the year of rehabilitation, Burke struggled with day-to-day tasks, including running and conditioning. He swam and rode stationary bikes, which he considered a “foreign” workout. It took six weeks to fully recover and over five months to gain full confidence on the shin.

He was also upset that he couldn’t join his teammates on the field as they clinched a Final Four berth in Division II NCAA Tournament during his redshirt season, but he and Mercyhurst head coach, Jo, knew the extra rest would be beneficial as his college years went on.

And they were right.

By the end of his collegiate career, Burke was fifth in the Mercyhurst record book in assists in an individual season with 10, a record he still owns to this day. He was also named to three consecutive All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams from 2000-02 and was a part of four straight GLIAC championships, with a trip to the Division II Final Four in his senior year. He was also was recognized as the GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2002.

Melody was said to be the biggest mentor for Burke outside of the family. Burke still contacts him occasionally to “pick his brain” as a soccer coach. Melody was head coach of both the men’s and women’s soccer team at Mercyhurst, a combination that Burke can easily relate to.

After graduating Merychurst, Burke needed to find a way to incorporate soccer into his life. He earned his U.S Soccer Federation National “A” license, a document that allows one to coach soccer at the highest level. In Burke’s mind, this was the moment he had been waiting for his entire life: a chance to coach college soccer.

Burke spent two years as a men’s assistant coach at Canisius College and was also getting his Masters in higher education at UB.

“When I was living in the Buffalo area, I met Michael Thomas and we were talking about the direction he wanted the program to go,” Burke said. “I took an interview with him and sure enough, I was hired as his assistant.”

Burke continued to pursue his Masters degree from UB while working as an assistant coach on the Buffalo women’s soccer team. He feels one of his biggest assets as a coach is his ability to relate to players, which he was able to do as a fellow UB student.

“Being a student helps on the recruiting side as well,” Burke said. “If I have potential athletes with their families visiting for a recruiting trip, I can point to the wall [in regards to my UB diploma] and say ‘Look I don’t have to talk about it, I lived it. I experienced it.’”

Not only does being a student help the players on the field as a relatable coach, but Burke also helped guide the team to become one of the most prominent programs at UB when it came to grade point average.

The team has amassed a team GPA of over 3.2 since Burke has arrived on campus, as he serves as the team’s liaison to academic services. He cannot take full responsibility, but Burke says his student ties are a tremendous influence on the Bulls.

Burke had success as the assistant coach, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The team averaged seven shutouts per season the last three seasons and finished the 2011 season with 12 shutouts in 21 games.

The defensive success that season earned the team a berth in the MAC Tournament, where it advanced to the semifinals. Buffalo’s rating percentage, the formula to measure sport teams successes, jumped more than 200 spots, more than any team in the country.

“I am proud of what he has accomplished,” Jay said. “He is involved and now leading a program that he helped build over the past five years.”

Like he has done for his entire life, Burke is focusing on getting better. Last season, the women’s soccer team finished in 10th place in the MAC, ultimately losing out on a berth to the conference tournament. Burke’s believes his plan is strong, however, and is confident in what he can bring to the team in his first year as head coach.

“I am a big attention to detail type of coach,” Burke said. “A lot of people ignore the million little things to get to the big picture. I want to build up the little things first in order to get to the big stage. Anything below not making it to the MAC Tournament is unacceptable.”

Burke is confident in the Bulls’ ability to succeed in his first year as head coach because his players understand where he wants to bring the team.

“We want the same things,” Burke said. “I understand them and they respect me. It is a confidence that everyone is on board with.”

But Burke’s will to succeed this season isn’t ready to stop there. He wants to make the program flourish in the future as well as the present, as the coaching staff is introducing a prospects camp on July 20. The camp is open to high school girls, where the overall goal of the day is to prepare potential collegiate soccer players while being able to show off their talents and experience training on a field with Division I coaches.

As first year head coach, Burke has no plans to leave Buffalo for a while. The city not only gave him his Masters degree and his first head coaching opportunity and Burke feels the city itself has “adopted” him as its child.

“Buffalo is a very unique city,” Burke said. “It is blue collar and proud with a tightknit community.”

From his early childhood playing soccer in Berea, Burke has seen a huge transition in the game, including national attention, overall style of soccer and the variety of incredible talent that the country was provided with. Through all of those changes, Burke’s passion for the game has stayed constant.

Burke believes it is the negatives he’s experienced in his career that help produce the positive.

“‘Suffer now, but live the rest of your life as a champion,’” Burke proudly stated, reading the Muhammad Ali quote from off of his office wall. “Everyone has struggles, but if you have a passion and put in the work, you are going to spend the rest of your life happy.”

Burke’s passion has earned himself a Division-I head coaching opportunity.

email: sports@ubspectrum.com