Many dream of being inducted into a hall of fame once in their lifetime. If you are Kulwant Singh, it will be your eighth.
The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics will honor Singh on June 8 at the 61st Annual NACDA and Affiliates Convention in Las Vegas, with seven other national inductees.
“I was incredibly honored when I learned the news,” Singh said. “It’s a very prestigious honor to be included with the thousands of others who have been inducted.”
Singh was born in India, eventually moving to England before settling in California.
Growing up, sports were a part of his life, though he did not initially envision a future working in athletics. “I didn’t see myself going into (athletics) at all,” Singh said. “My parents were very supportive of me though, since my family had let me participate in sports.”
He pursued his associate’s at Chabot College and transferred to California State University, East Bay, earning his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Physical Education in 1983, and a master’s degree in Kinesiology and Physical Education. He played for the men’s soccer team at both colleges.
“I had a mentor when I was playing soccer. He’s the one who helped me get into coaching,” Singh said.
His De Anza coaching career began as a part-time soccer coach before becoming the men’s soccer head coach from 1990 to 2007, and women’s soccer head coach from 1991 to 1997.
“I was playing at Santa Clara University. Kulwant was a coach and teacher here,” Rusty Johnson, women’s head soccer coach, said. “To improve his abilities here as a coach, he would shadow some of the Division I programs, so he would shadow the Santa Clara program.”
With a record of 375-70-73, his coaching led the men’s soccer team to four State Championship games, winning twice in 1994 and 1997, and the women’s soccer team to five consecutive championships between 1992 and 1996, winning in 1994 and 1995.
“Those years in the mid 90s cemented him as a legend of soccer in the Bay Area for junior college,” Johnson said.
Thanks to Singh’s coaching, both the women’s and men’s soccer teams won the 1994 state championships on the same day, a historic achievement still remembered by the soccer program.
“That was an amazing day. I had to leave the men’s game near the end, because the women’s game was starting on the other field,” Singh said. “But I had a strong staff and team I could rely on.”
Afterwards, Singh became De Anza’s athletic director in 2004, staying until the end of 2021. He said it helped him get more involved in the athletic department’s sports aspect.
“When I got this position, I was still coaching for the soccer team as well as teaching,” Singh said. “I started to work with the other athletic programs after becoming director.”
The college won the Coast Conference “Bud Ottmar All-Sports” Trophy, awarded for best overall performance, in the intercollegiate sports conference 13 times: 12 consecutively from 2007 to 2019, and again from 2021 to 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic.
He credits these wins to treating all the programs on campus as equally as possible. “Football was the same as badminton or tennis for me,” Singh said.
“His influence was promoting equity, and that laid some really good groundwork,” Danielle Altman, head swim and dive coach, said. “He has established those sorts of goals and those things that we’re constantly striving for.”
Beyond building successful programs, colleagues said Singh also focused heavily on expanding opportunities for student-athletes.
“When he was here, one of his main goals was to make sure that he provided opportunities to as many athletes as possible,” Johnson said. “He put a lot of extra work into the things that he created for the athletes here.”
While Singh had planned to retire fully after leaving De Anza in December 2021, he was recruited to be the Central Valley Conference commissioner in July 2021.
“The position was part-time even though it was on a higher level of leadership … I could stay involved in community college athletics (while having more time),” Singh said.
Singh has held other numerous leadership roles in community college athletics, such as president of the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators, a member of the NACDA executive committee, past president of the California Community College Athletic Directors Association, and a 12-year member of the CCCADA Management Council.
Even after stepping into a conference leadership role, Singh’s impact on the De Anza community continued to stand out to those who worked alongside him.
“He had good rapport with other athletic directors,” Dawnis Guevarra, head indoor and beach volleyball coach, said. “He knew all the rules and regulations, … making sure that every one of our coaches here on campus was also ready for their sport, made sure that they’re following rules and staying on top of everything.”
Colleagues said Singh’s personality helped him connect with people in the athletic community.
“He’s very charismatic; he’s very sociable, so he knows pretty much everyone and can just strike up a conversation with anyone,” Johnson said. “That’s what’s made him so successful as a leader in this area.”
That ability to connect with people and lead with fairness is how Singh hopes to be remembered.
“I want to be known as someone who was unbiased and made things equal for everyone,” Singh said on his legacy.
