New Bates College men’s soccer coach Tyler Sheikh. (Knox College Photo)

With just over five weeks to go before the new season starts, the Bates College men’s soccer team now has a new coach. Tyler Sheikh was announced as the ninth head coach in the 56-year history of the program Monday.

Sheikh, a native of Connecticut, comes to Bates from Knox College in Illinois, and he replaces Stewart Flaherty, who left after five years at the helm to take an assistant coaching job at Dartmouth College.

“I’ve always felt a pull to the NESCAC, the best conference in the country,” Sheikh said in a school press release. “Six years ago, an opportunity like this was kind of a pipe dream. Now I feel prepared to realize a goal for me and my budding family: to return home to New England and work with the young men at Bates.”

Sheikh said a goal for his program will be mental toughness and “always taking it to the competition.”

“We should be a program that’s fun to watch and has fun,” Sheikh added.

A former Division I player at Quinnipiac University, Sheikh compiled a 29-10-9 record in three seasons at Knox College. Before that he had stops at Mount Aloysius College in Pennsylvania and Illinois College.

“We are thrilled to welcome Tyler to the Bobcat family,” Bates Athletic Director Jason Fein said in the release. “Not only have his teams excelled on the field, but the search committee was also impressed by his passion for educating and supporting the entire person, in all academic and personal pursuits. His commitment to community service, social justice and alumni engagement all helped make him a terrific fit for Bates. I am looking forward to working with him and to the Bobcats continuing their upward climb this fall.”

Bates opens the 2018 season at home on Sept. 5 vs. UMaine-Farmington, followed by its NESCAC opener at home vs. Hamilton on Sept. 8.

Rowing coach Steenstra featured in Sports Illustrated

Bates rowing coach Peter Steenstra became the latest Bobcats sports figure to appear in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” feature, in the issue released on July 26.

Steenstra was cited by the magazine for his leadership in guiding the women’s team to the 2018 NCAA Division III championship — the team’s third national crown in the past four years.

Steenstra continues adding to an impressive haul of honors entering his 11th year leading the program. Earlier this year he repeated as the College Rowing Coaches of America’s Division III Coach of the Year; he was also named NESCAC Women’s Rowing Coach of the Year for the sixth time, and NESCAC Men’s Rowing Coach of the Year for the fourth time.

Steenstra is the ninth Bobcat to be named an SI Face in the Crowd and first since two-time national squash champion Ahmed Abdel Khalek in 2015.

Preceding Steenstra and Abdel Khalek, past Faces in the Crowd from Bates include three-time NCAA track and field champion David Pless in 2012, NCAA tennis champion Will Boe-Wiegaard (2006), NCAA track and field champion Liz Wanless (2004), NCAA track and field champion Jaime Sawler (2002), the late former volleyball coach Marsha Graef (1998), and volleyball players Kate Hagstrom (2000) and Michelle Feroah (1990). Additionally, women’s basketball player Colleen McCrave appeared in Sports Illustrated for Women’s Faces in the Crowd in 1999.