THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 3, 1995 TAG: 9510030366
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
After two years of serving two masters, Sonny Travis stepped down as head coach of the Hampton Roads Mariners soccer team on Monday.
Travis remains as the men's soccer coach at Virginia Wesleyan. He is the winningest coach in school history with a 106-17-15 record.
``It's time to make a decision between coaching college soccer or professional soccer,'' Travis said. ``My first love is coaching at the intercollegiate level and I need to put all my efforts there.
``My full-time job is here at Virginia Wesleyan, and I have a family. That needs to be a priority.''
Virginia Wesleyan is currently 8-0-1 and ranked 12th nationally in Division III. The Marlins have qualified for the NCAA playoffs in each of Travis' five seasons.
``What I was trying to do was make a choice and send a message to my college team that all my attention is with them,'' said Travis.
Travis led the Mariners to a 15-7 record in the club's first season at the professional level. He also coached the amateur Hampton Roads Hurricanes, the area's initial entry into the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues.
Travis met with Mariners general manager Shawn McDonald.
``We were asking Sonny what he wanted to do, because we didn't know if he wanted to stay with the commitment needed to do both coaching jobs,'' McDonald said. ``He's got a good thing going at Wesleyan, and I think ultimately he made the right decision.''
Hampton Roads plans on moving into the USISL's elite 24-team Select League next season. ILLUSTRATION: ``My first love is coaching at the intercollegiate level and I
need to put all my efforts there,'' Sonny Travis said. by CNB