Stephen Gorton

Stephen Gorton will be entering his fifth season as the Men's Head Soccer coach at Garden City Community College in 2011. Since Gorton has been the Head Soccer coach he has put together one of the most powerful programs in the country. In just his second year as the GCCC Head Coach, he guided the Busters to the National Tournament Final Four. Along the way the Busters won the Region VI Championship and won the Plains District Championship. Stephen Gorton has developed into to one of the most successful junior college soccer coaches in the country in a short period of time. He has key wins over programs such as San Jacinto (TX.), Jefferson College (MO.), and Georgia Perimeter (GA.). Gorton has produced 33 All Conference Players, 30 All Region Players, 2007 & 2008 KJCCC Freshmen of the Year, 5 NSCAA All South, 5 NJCAA All Americans, 2 NSCAA All Americans, 2009 & 2010 KJCCC Player of the Year, and one player named to the National Tournament team. In 2008 Coach Gorton was named the NJCAA Plains District Coach of the Year in and nominated NSCAA National Coach of the Year. Gorton has compiled a 56-21-3 (.072) record overall, 35-11-1 (.076) conference record and a 41-5-0 (.089) Home record.

Gorton and his team are also very active in the community. They work with the YMCA youth soccer program in the off-season. In 2008 Gorton worked with the YMCA youth programs as a Director of Coaching and Technical Director with over 20 of his players volunteering as youth coaches for the program. He also runs the city’s Futsal leagues, is the Director of the Buster Soccer Academy, which is the Garden City Men's Soccer Camp during the summer, and serves on the coaching staff for the Kansas Olympic Development

Program. Prior to GCCC, Gorton was an Assistant Coach at Western Illinois University, an NCAA Division 1 team that competes in the Summit League. While at WIU in 2004 he helped Head Coach Dr. Eric P. Johnson guide the leathernecks to a conference tournament championship, and an automatic birth to the NCAA College Cup. Gorton had the pleasure of coaching Colorado Rapids defender Kosuke Kimura while at WIU. "Eric Johnson taught me a lot about how to be a successful coach, but more importantly he taught me how to become a man through the qualities of responsibility, commitment, loyalty and honesty. This is what we teach our players- how to become better soccer players, students and members of society."

As a player, Gorton played at Western Illinois University. Gorton was an All Conference performer while at WIU. Coach Gorton was honored NSCAA/Adidas All North, NSCAA All American, and All Region throughout his collegiate career as well. Gorton played in the USL Premier Development League with the Thunder Bay Chill out of Ontario, Canada. While with the Chill he helped the team to a 25-10 record in two years, as well as being named to the PDL team of the week, and Franchise defender of the year.

Stephen Gorton was born and raised in Mattawan, MI and then went on to Western Illinois University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Recreation Administration and a minor in Kinesiology. Gorton resides in Garden City with his wife former Andrea Fernandez the Head Women’s Soccer coach at Garden City Community College, and their dog Cue.