COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs Executive Director of Athletics Nathan Gibson announces Wednesday that J. B. Belzer will be joining UCCS Athletics as the new women's soccer head coach.

"As we progressed through an incredibly deep and competitive search process, Coach Belzer stood out as the candidate to lead UCCS Women's Soccer moving forward," said Gibson. "His vision, values, experience, accomplishments and championship standards for excellence make him an outstanding fit for UCCS and a wonderful addition to our coaching staff.  I am beyond excited for the future of this program and how it will continue to grow to new heights under Coach Belzer's leadership!"

Belzer heads to UCCS after spending 24 seasons at Regis University where he had unprecedented success with eight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships and a 313-142-36 overall record (.674 winning percentage) to become eighth in NCAA DII for All-Time Victories.

"Opportunities for personal growth at universities that thrive in today's world are increasingly rare," Belzer stated. "The strategic plan of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs has demonstrated impressive success in the past decade.  The university is poised for continued growth and Mountain Lion Athletics is a major contributor to this expansion of excellence.  I thank Executive Director of Athletics, Nathan Gibson, and Interim Vice-Chancellor for Student Success, Carlos Garcia, for selecting me to be the next leader of Mountain Lion Women's Soccer.  

"UCCS Women's Soccer has rapidly risen to national prominence as resources and outstanding coaching have been added in recent years.  My staff and I will strive to continue, if not increase, the on-field success while providing great leadership and mentorship on the pitch, in the classroom, and in the community to this outstanding collection of young, female, student-athletes.  The sky is the limit for this program, and I am blessed and honored to be its next head coach!"

Belzer has been no stranger to success as he's guided the Rangers to nine NCAA Tournament Appearances including five consecutive appearances from 2008-12, and a Final Four appearance in 1996. With Belzer at the helm, Regis has experienced 23 winning seasons of posting a .500 winning percentage or higher.

His accomplishments have not gone overlooked by his peers as Belzer has been named RMAC Coach of the Year five times in his career with a United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region Coach of the Year honor in 2001. Belzer has helped coach 12 United Soccer Coaches All-Americans and 12 RMAC Major Award Winners including three RMAC Players of the Year, three RMAC Defensive Players of the Year, and seven RMAC Freshman of the Year.

The on-field performances and achievements under Belzer's direction reflect in the classroom as well with his teams earning five RMAC Brechler Team Academic Awards for the highest GPA out of every women's soccer program in the conference. In addition to the 12 All-Americans that Belzer has helped coach, seven student-athletes have been selected as United Soccer Coaches Scholar-Athlete All-Americans while two student-athletes have also been voted RMAC Academic Players of the Year. Among the student-athletes who have completed their four-year soccer eligibility under Belzer's direction, a full 100 percent of the student-athletes have graduated.

Before his time at Regis, Belzer worked his way up through the coaching ranks quickly as he spent three years at Edmond Memorial High School as the boy's head soccer coach from 1992-94 where he registered a 33-7-4 overall record, won a State 5A State Championship (1994), and was voted HS Boys Coach of the Year (1994). During that time Belzer also served as the men's soccer assistant coach for Oklahoma Christian University for one year (1992-93) where he then made the transition to Division I as the Men and Women's Assistant Coach for the University of Tulsa (1994-1995).

Belzer's coaching experience extends beyond the college and high school ranks as he spent time coaching in Olympic Development Programs such as Colorado Youth Soccer Girls State Team (1999, 2000, 2004, 2005). He also served as the Oklahoma Soccer Association State ODP Director (1994-96) and served on the USYSA Region III Boys and Girls ODP Staff (1995-96).

Recently, Belzer expanded beyond his role as a collegiate head coach by working with US Soccer to be a Senior Talent ID Scout within the West Region that covers Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Since 2012, Belzer has also aided US Soccer by becoming a member of the Colorado Training Center Staff.

Off the pitch, Belzer has remained active within soccer service organizations by serving two terms as the National Chair of the NCAA DII Women's Soccer National Committee (2001-02, 2016-17) and is currently an ad hoc member of the NCAA DII WSO Coaches Connection.

A native of Edmond, Okla., Belzer attended and played soccer at the University of Tulsa for one season before transferring to Oklahoma State University. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Education at OSU in 1991 before obtaining his MBA from University of Tulsa in 1997. Even more, Belzer holds both a United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma, United Soccer Coaches Advanced National Diploma, U.S. Soccer National "A" License, and US Soccer Talen Scout License.

Belzer is set to join the Mountain Lions' staff on Monday, Mar. 2.