Chris Tinius enters his seventh season on the Hill and second as the associate head coach of the Lady Topper soccer program.
Under the Tinius[apos] tutelege, WKU has won at least 12 games in five of his previous six seasons, including a regular-season Sun Belt Conference Championship during his first season in 2007 and a school-record 15-win season in 2008.
Tinius has aided head coach Jason Neidell in developing 28 All-Sun Belt Conference selections in 2007, including 2007 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Morgan Thomas, 2009 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Kellie Walker and 2012 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Ali Stahlke.
Since Tinius arrived in 2007 the Lady Toppers have posted a winning percentage of .699, going 77-28-18 during his tenure.
Tinius earned his bachelor[apos]s degree in broadcasting from WKU in 2003 before completing his master[apos]s in sport and fitness management at Troy in December, 2006. Tinius is originally from Bowling Green, where he played on the WKU men[apos]s soccer team from 1999-2002 and led the Bowling Green High School soccer team to two state runner-up finishes.
In 2005, he was an assistant coach at Troy, where he helped the squad qualify for its first-ever conference tournament berth in school history. After coaching at Troy he moved on to Georgia Southern in 2006, where he was responsible for recruiting, monitoring academics and on-field coaching. He helped the Eagles more than double their win total from 2005 and qualify for the conference tournament for the first time since 2002. GSU upset No. 2 seed Davidson in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2001.
He was introduced as a member of the Lady Topper coaching staff on March 27, 2007.
[quote]As a Bowling Green native with a long-time passion for Hilltopper athletics, I couldn[apos]t be more pleased with the opportunity to continue to grow as a coach in an environment that is so special to me,[quote] stated Tinius.
Tinius holds a USSF National [quote]C[quote] License, National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Advanced National Diploma and NSCAA Regional Goalkeeping Diploma.
[quote]Chris[apos] knowledge and experience, as well as his impeccable character, are fantastic assets to the continued growth and success of our program,[quote] said Lady Toppers head coach Jason Neidell. [quote]Above all else, the pride and passion that he shows for this university and WKU athletics is incredible and is exactly what we want our players to feel every time they put on their Lady Topper jerseys.[quote]
Hilltopper red runs deep with the Tinius family - Chris is one of six family members to play sports as a Hilltopper. His mother, Katy, is in the WKU Athletic Hall of Fame for tennis; his father, Joe, ran track and cross country and was a member of the national runner-up cross country team; his uncle, Jim, played and coached football; his sister, Kelly, was on the inaugural women[apos]s soccer team at WKU; and his brother, Casey was the kicker for the WKU football team from 2008-11.
