Lilia Dosalmas, Head Women’s Soccer Coach

Lilia Dosalmas has been appointed as the head coach for the first ever women’s soccer team at Merritt College. In its inaugural season, Coach Dosalmas is aiming to create a program that in addition to having athletic success on the soccer field will also be comprised of student-athletes that are garnering academic success as well. One primary goal of her tenure with Merritt College Women’s Soccer will be to have a high rate of student-athlete transfers to 4 year Universities and to have one of the highest team GPA’s in the athletics department. Coach Dosalmas is excited to combine her passions of soccer and education in her position, and steer her program toward both academic and athletic excellence.

Coach Lilia Dosalmas previously worked as an assistant coach at various colleges in the Bay area. She has been on the coaching staff of the women’s soccer teams at Diablo Valley Community College, Contra Costa Community College, and most recently at Mills College, a Division III University in Oakland. In addition to college coaching, Coach Dosalmas has been the head coach of the Albany High School Women’s soccer program for the past 5 years where she led her team to winning seasons and earned honors as the TCAL Rock division champions from 2013-2014, and a bid for the North Coast Section from 2011-2014. Her team received the 2013 NCS Scholastic award, and has had the TCAL Division MVP Offensive player(s) of the year for 4 consecutive seasons from 2011-2014. In 2013, Coach Dosalmas was also honored with the EBISOA Referee’s Association Coach of the year award.

Other coaching experiences include being a Trainer and Assistant Coach at Bay Oaks East Bay United Soccer Club, a lead Coach and Instructor for the Pacific Soccer Training Academy, and a head coach for the Golden Gate Women’s Soccer League in San Francisco. She has also worked for other local clubs including El Cerrito Spurs, Benicia Arsenal and the West Contra Costa Youth Soccer League.

Coach Dosalmas holds a Master’s degree from the University of California Berkeley in Education through the Cultural Studies of Sport and Education program and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California in Santa Barbara. She also holds National coaching licenses from the United States Soccer Federation, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and a Double Goal Coach Award from the Positive Coaching Alliance.