KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Simmons College women's soccer team has been named a recipient of the United Soccer Coaches (formerly the National Soccer Coaches Association of America) Team Academic Award for the 2016-17 academic year it was announced by the USC. The honor is given to soccer programs throughout the United States for exemplary performance in the classroom as a team.

To qualify for the award, the team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of players.

The Sharks posted a 3.59 grade point average for the second straight year, which ranks as the 18th-highest GPA among NCAA Division III schools. Simmons earned the highest team-GPA of any school in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. The Sharks have received the Team Academic Award 11 straight years for the 12th-longest streak in Division III and 14 times overall for the 27th-most among NCAA Division III programs.

The Sharks boasted 13 soccer student-athletes with a 3.50 GPA or higher.

United Soccer Coaches annually celebrates the academic achievements of high school and college soccer teams whose student-athletes collectively demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their studies over the course of a full school year. 

United Soccer Coaches, formerly the NSCAA, was founded in 1941 and is the largest community for soccer coaches in the world. The USC unites coaches of all levels around the love of the game and we elevate the game through advocacy, education and service.

Simmons finished the 2016 season with an 8-9-2 record, including 7-4-0 in GNAC play to earn the fifth seed in the conference tournament. The Sharks' season came to an end in the conference quarterfinals.