Cheryl Owiesny, soccer coach and 10-year professor, has dedicated 16 years of her life to De Anza College.
Owiesny produced eight Coast Conference Championship teams and placed De Anza Women’s soccer on the map with National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Top 15 National Ranking (three times); NSCAA Academic Team Award (2004); NSCAA West Region Team (10 players); and NSCAA All-Americans (15).
Owiesny’s achievements in the sport are extraordinary, not just for their impact but for the unseen struggles and the battles fought in the shadows. She overcame many obstacles, defying the odds to build something meaningful — not just a successful women’s soccer program, but a legacy shaped by resilience and determination.
Owiesny said her biggest achievement at De Anza is her contribution to bettering her players’ lives, mentoring so many players who have succeeded on the soccer field here at De Anza and transferred, or who found their career path after De Anza.
Owiesny said that “seeing players now (and receiving) random messages, hugs (and) thank yous” made everything she went through worth it.
Although Owiesny found success in many of her players, it didn’t come stress-free. She had odds stacked against her, Owiesny credits to being a woman in a male dominated profession. There were few female coaches at any community college in the Bay Area. Owiesny knew this growing up as she only had women coaches on her sixth grade soccer team.
“My favorite practices were when we would scrimmage the boys and we’d beat them. I was like, ‘We can do this,’” Owiesny said.
Owiesny said that in school, the classroom was not like the soccer field she thrived on.
“(School was) a place that I never felt that I was ever expected to succeed,” Owiesny said. “I was the last person picked in the classroom to be someone’s partner for a project.”
Owiesny credited her father as her greatest influence. She said he was her rock through the toughest times, and now, she gets to be that rock for him.
“He provided us so much and he came from so little that he didn’t have these crazy expectations. But (he) expected us to do our best and always do our best effort,” Owiesny said.
Soccer has given Owiesny more than just a game — it gave her purpose, a higher education at Foothill College and Chico State University, which allowed her to play soccer in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
Owiesny said it was difficult to find good people in her corner who supported and rooted for her success. That search ended when she crossed paths with Kulwant Singh. Owiesny labeled Singh as one of her mentors and people who has helped her tremendously during her years at De Anza.
Owiesny’s final years as head coach of the women’s soccer team were marked by a series of hardships that ultimately led to her decision to step down.
“It provided challenges, but if I didn’t have those challenges, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Owiesny said.
The toll of these difficulties became apparent to those around her; former De Anza athlete Mitchelle Aranda, 20, now a kinesiology major at California State University East Bay, noticed a shift in her former coach’s demeanor.
“To my knowledge, she was going through a lot, and I understood that’s why she decided to step down. But I would’ve loved to have seen more from her because I heard great things about her coaching,” Aranda said.
Owiesny’s reputation remained steadfast through challenging times. Mark Landefeld, the current women’s soccer coach and a longtime friend of Owiesny, recalled his memories of her.
“She very clearly loves all aspects of the game,” Landefeld said. “But she’s also stayed just as concerned about the individual and what’s going on in their lives off the field and takes care of them in that aspect as well.”
Owiesny’s influence went beyond the players she coached — it also shaped the next generation of coaches.
Isabel Sandez, assistant coach to the De Anza women’s soccer team, has found a mentor in Owiesny — just as Owiesny had found a mentor in Singh. Sandez said Owiesny left a lasting impact on her, particularly in her coaching abilities.
“She ran a program for so long and it was successful, that’s what I hope to do one day,” Sandez said. “She owns (her confidence), she walks into a room and knows what she is talking about, she’s educated and she’s firm in her beliefs.”
Owiesny’s story is a testament to the challenges and perseverance that shape success. Beyond her achievements was a relentless fight to which she gave her all. Her impact lives on — not just in the record books, but in the lives she influenced and the program she helped shape.
