Norton receives prestigious McNulty Award
CAMDEN, N.J. (Feb. 6, 2023) – Long-time Rutgers University-Camden Men's Soccer Assistant Coach
Don Norton, Jr. received the New Jersey Youth Soccer's Bob McNulty Coach of the Year Award at the NJYS Awards Dinner Friday in Edison.
The NJYS's highest honor, the McNulty award is named after the late Robert McNulty, a legendary coach and member of the New Jersey City University Hall of Fame. McNulty was one of the 11 original "A" licensed coaches in the nation. A member of the United States Soccer Federation, McNulty was a co-founder of the New Jersey Soccer Coaches Association and the Eastern Soccer Coaches Association, was a head coach at NJCU and an assistant coach at Rutgers University, and was a member of the United States Olympic Soccer team selection committee. He was inducted into the New Jersey Soccer Hall of Fame in 1995.
Norton has been a Rutgers-Camden assistant soccer coach for the past 10 seasons, beginning with the Scarlet Raptors' magical 2013 season when the team reached the NCAA Division III championship game. He also has coached at New Jersey Athletic Conference rivals Rowan University and Stockton University, where he was inducted into the Stockton University Hall of Fame last fall as a member of the Ospreys' coaching staff on the 1999 Final Four team.
Norton also has coached at Haverford College, Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania.
Among his numerous accomplishments, Norton was a speaker at the US Youth Soccer/NSCAA Convention held in Philadelphia in 2014 and he also serves as a youth talent scout for Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union. He has earned the United States Soccer Federation National "A" Coaching License, National Soccer Coaches Association of America Premier Diploma, Football Association of Ireland National "A" License (UEFA National "A" License), USSF National Youth License, Scottish Football Association National "A" Certificate, NSCAA Regional GK Diploma and a State Level 2 Futsal License. He also passed the intense US Soccer Grassroots Instructors course in 2019.
In 2003, Norton was asked by the Football Association of Ireland to provide player development strategies used in the United State. The invitation was part of the F.A. Ireland Development Strategies 2002-2006: One Game, One Association, which was an outline to improve the playing standards at all levels of Irish football over five years.
In 2013, he was selected to the Region 1 boys support coaching staff held at Rider University, where he served as an evaluator for the Boys Olympic Development Program (ODP).
Norton has served as a boys' staff coach for Mt. Laurel United Soccer, a head coach for the MLU Premier 2010 boys' team, the Director of Coaching for the Highland/Rush Youth Soccer Club, and an instructor for NJYS and the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association. He has taught USSF National "D", "E" and "F" license courses to over 7,500 coaches at all levels of soccer and is an associate national staff coach for the United Soccer Coaches.
Norton also is a prolific writer who has contributed nearly 40 articles to numerous soccer publications over the years, including the USC Soccer Journal and its precursor, the NSCAA Journal. His most recent article,
Are Your Players Learning To Steal Real Estate?, appears in the November/December issue of the USC Soccer Journal.
