Heather Nelson has guided Southeast Missouri State soccer to many degrees of success in her 10 years as head coach. Most recently, the Redhawks captured back-to-back OVC tournament championships and NCAA tournament berths in 2006 and 2007.

Since building the Southeast program from scratch in 1999, Nelson has reeled off eight winning seasons and has a recorded a 102-56-21 record at Southeast. She has led the Southeast soccer team to three OVC regular season championships in 2001, 2002, and 2007. The Redhawks captured OVC tournament titles in 2006 and 2007.

After a modest record in the program's first year, Nelson won 10 games in year two before leading the Redhawks to a pair of OVC regular season championships in 2001 and 2002. Both seasons, her squads finished undefeated in conference play.

In 2001, Nelson's team broke into the spotlight as they finished the year 16-2 overall and 5-0 in the OVC, posting an .889 overall winning percentage in the season that still ranks as the highest in school history. Despite claiming the program's first conference championship, Southeast ultimately fell to Eastern Illinois 1-0 in the OVC tournament final, allowing its first goal of the season to a conference opponent.

The team finished the season ranked first in the country in goals allowed average (0.44) and shutout percentage (.72) while only allowing eight goals in 18 total games. Meanwhile, Southeast also ranked 10th nationally with 2.67 points per game. The team set OVC records for wins in a season (16) and goals allowed in conference play (zero).

Southeast repeated as OVC regular season champions the following year, finishing the 2002 season with an overall record of 14-5-1 and a 6-0-0 record in OVC play. The Redhawks led the way in the OVC for shots, goals allowed, goals against, fouls and shutouts.

Nine players were named to All-OVC teams. Valerie Henderson was named OVC Player of the Year and Jenny Hamilton was named OVC Defender of the Year for the second straight year. However, Southeast fell just shy of an NCAA tournament berth for the second straight year to Eastern Illinois, falling 3-2 in a heartbreaking overtime shootout.

After a second loss to the Panthers, it would be another four years before the Redhawks found themselves in position to earn a spot in the 64-team NCAA tournament field.

Coming off a fourth-place finish in 2006 with a 4-3-2 league record, the Redhawks defeated Austin Peay 3-0 at home in an OVC tournament play-in game to advance to the tournament semifinals in Birmingham, Ala.

Against No. 1 Samford on its home field, Southeast defeated the regular season champions 3-2 in a second overtime period. Two days later the Redhawks shut out Morehead State 2-0 in the title game to earn the program's first NCAA tournament berth.

Southeast drew nationally ranked Illinois in the opening round of the 2006 NCAA tournament. The Redhawks traveled to St. Louis, Mo., for the first round match and stifled the Illini offense for much of the first period. However, after a thunderstorm delay that lasted over an hour and a half, the momentum turned to Illinois as they went on to defeat Southeast 2-0.

In 2007, building upon their experience in the 2006 tournament, the Redhawks returned to postseason play against the Missouri Tigers. Playing at the Tigers' home field in Columbia, Mo., Nelson's Redhawks made history in the 43rd minute when Courtney Alexander scored the program's first goal in NCAA tournament action on a perfect pass from Vanessa Hart. The goal tied the game at 1-1, though after scoreless soccer through the second period and two overtime periods, Missouri ultimately advanced in a shootout victory.

Although the Redhawks did not win either the conference regular season or tournament championship from 2003-05, Nelson still coached the Redhawks to winning records each season and a number of individual conference awards.

In the 2003 preseason poll, Southeast was tabbed by league coaches to finish atop the OVC standings for the third straight year. Unfortunately, season ending injuries to 2002 OVC Player of the Year Valerie Henderson and Southeast's all-time points leader, Erica Todd, dampened the Southeast attack. The squad finished the season 10-5-5, ultimately losing to Samford on overtime penalty kicks in the OVC tournament semifinal.

With a veteran squad returning in 2004, the team jumped out to a 5-2 record en route to a 11-6-2 overall mark, which included a 3-3-2 ledger in OVC play. The record was good enough to qualify for the OVC tournament, but the squad lost 1-0 to rival Murray State on the road in rainy conditions.

In 2005, Nelson guided the Redhawks to an overall record of 13-6-1 and finished in a tie for third place in OVC competition with a 5-3-1 mark. Southeast posted a 1-0 home win over Jacksonville State in the OVC play-in game, but fell to Eastern Illinois in the semifinals. Three of Nelson's players earned All-OVC honors, including OVC Defensive Player of the Year Lindsay Pickering.

Nelson earned her third OVC Coach of the Year honor in 2007, the most of any women's soccer coach in conference history, adding to her 1999 and 2001 awards. The honor was just one of four individual conference honors for the Redhawks lthat year as they swept the OVC postseason awards.

In her ten seasons at Southeast, Nelson has coached three OVC Players of the Year, four OVC Defensive Players of the Year and one OVC Freshman of the Year. Additionally, 52 Redhawks since 1999 have earned OVC first team, second team, third team, honorable mention or all-newcomer postseason accolades under Nelson.

Nelson's Redhawks have performed extremely well in the classroom as well. Her student-athletes have earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII honors on five occassions. She has also coached 16 OVC Medal of Honor winners, given to student-athletes who earn the highest grade point average in the conference in each conference-sponsored sport.

Prior to building the Redhawks soccer program, Nelson coached at Florida State from 1995-98, helping set the foundation for the Seminoles in the very competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. Her 1996 squad finished an impressive 12-7-1, led by Kelley Poole, who served two years as Nelson's assistant at Southeast before moving on to start the soccer program at Austin Peay. Nelson's teams also performed well off the field, as the 1996 and 1997 squads had the ACC's second highest grade point average.

Nelson coached the 1986 age group Missouri Olympic Development Program (ODP) team to the Midwest Region II Championship in 2003 and represented Region II at the 2004 ODP National Championship in Las Vegas, Nev. She also coached the 1988 age group Missouri ODP team and served as co-head coach for Missouri's Olympic Development Program while serving as a member of the Region II coaching staff.

A former member of Canada's national team pool, Nelson was a four-year starter at the University of Saskatchewan. Earning her degree in physical education in 1992, she went on to earn her "B" license and coaching diploma from the National Coaching Institute at the University of Victoria. Upon receiving her diploma in 1993, Nelson held the distinction of being one of only five Canadian female coaches qualified to coach at the national team level. In 2003, Nelson recieved her master's degree from the University of Victoria.

Nelson and her husband Paul, a former professional soccer player and current Redhawks associate head coach, have three daughters, Jordan (11), Taylor (7) and Justi (3). They recently gave birth to their first son, Mitchell "Chase," on May 20, 2008.