Julie Cunningham Shackford '88 enters her eighth full season as the head coach of her alma mater. She was named the third women's soccer coach in William & Mary history on Dec. 13, 2017.
A 30-year coaching veteran and former national coach of the year, Shackford owns a 291-198-57 record (.586) as a head coach, including stops at Princeton and Carnegie Mellon along with her time in Williamsburg.
Shackford guided the Tribe to another postseason appearance in 2025, finishing 7-7-4 overall and 5-2-2 in CAA play. William & Mary advanced to the CAA Championship for the third time in the last four seasons and posted a dominant 7-2-1 record at Martin Family Stadium. The Tribe's seven home victories were its most since the 2014 season and the program secured its postseason berth by winning five of its final seven regular-season matches.
The Tribe earned seven postseason honors from the CAA in 2025. Ellie Leffler was named the CAA Rookie of the Year and joined Mia Abbey and Gwen Doughty on the CAA All-Rookie Team. Abbey also earned Third Team All-CAA honors alongside Ivey Crain and Molly Widderich.
The Tribe also excelled in the classroom under Shackford's leadership. Nora Green-Orset, Leila Greene, Sheridan Brummett, Ivey Crain, Molly Widderich and Lindsay Wilson were named CSC Academic All-District selections following the 2025 season. Green-Orset also earned CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors during the campaign.
During Shackford's tenure, the Tribe has produced multiple major CAA award winners, including CAA Goalkeeper of the Year Zoe Doughty in 2021, CAA Rookie of the Year Ivey Crain in 2022 and CAA Rookie of the Year Ellie Leffler in 2025.
Shackford led the Tribe to its first win over an ACC school since 2016, when the Tribe downed NC State 1-0 in Raleigh in 2024. The last time the Tribe had beaten an ACC member on the road also came against the Wolfpack in 2015.
The Green and Gold accomplished plenty of history in the 2023 season with Shackford at the helm, most notably getting back to the CAA semifinals for the first time since 2017. The Tribe, who finished the season 9-4-7 and 6-3-3 in conference play, completed non-conference action unbeaten for the first time in program history with a 3-0-3 mark. The 2023 season also saw Shackford's squad break the program record for average attendance and set the school record for single-game attendance, drawing 1,032 fans to Martin Family Stadium for its meeting with Campbell.
In 2022, Shackford led the Tribe back to the CAA Tournament for the first time in five seasons. W&M won seven matches and finished the league slate with a 3-3-3 mark.
In her return to Williamsburg, Shackford recorded her 250th career victory in her first season on the Tribe sidelines. The Green and Gold topped Drexel, 2-0, at Martin Family Stadium on Sept. 30, 2018, for her milestone win.
Shackford was the head women's soccer coach at Princeton from 1995-2014, where she built the Tigers into a consistently successful program that regularly produced championship teams. She is the all-time wins leader at Princeton (203) and guided the Tigers to an NCAA College Cup semifinal, six Ivy League titles and eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Shackford coached seven Ivy League Players of the Year, 40 First-Team All-Ivy League selections and three United Soccer Coaches All-Americans.
She recruited and coached several national team players and three who went on to become professional athletes in the National Women's Soccer League, including two-time Olympic medalist Diana Matheson. The Tigers won 10 matches or more in 16 of her 20 years on the sidelines. For her efforts, she was named the USC Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year in 2001, 2004 and 2012. Most importantly, 100 percent of Shackford's student-athletes graduated from Princeton.
Her best season at Princeton came in 2004 when she led the Tigers to their first NCAA College Cup appearance, which remains the only national semifinal trip for any Ivy League member. The team finished the season with a 19-3 record and earned wins against Central Connecticut State, Villanova, Boston College and Washington to advance to the College Cup before falling to her former Tribe teammate and current U.S. Women's National Team coach Jill Ellis and UCLA. For her efforts, she was named the Division I National Coach of the Year and Soccer Buzz Coach of the Year.
Prior to Princeton, Shackford led the women's soccer program at Carnegie Mellon from its inception in 1990 until 1995. She posted a 42-21-3 record during her time in Pittsburgh.
Shackford was a four-year standout for the Tribe from 1984-87, appearing in 68 career matches. She finished her career with 20 goals, nine assists and 49 points while helping the Tribe to four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. Shackford was a three-time All-American and was elected to the William & Mary Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
Aside from her vast experience at the collegiate ranks, Shackford has continued to shape her résumé in many other facets and levels of the sport. She owns a U.S. Soccer Federation 'A' License and is a USC State Diploma Course Instructor. On the national level, Shackford assisted with the U20 and U21 U.S. National Team programs from 2000-02 and served as a scout for the U.S. Women's National Team. She also was a Region I Staff Coach with the Olympic Development Program from 1990-2000.
Most recently, she served as one of the directors of FC Virginia's Development Academy in the Northern Virginia area. In this role, she was responsible for coaching four different teams composed of elite players and played a major role in leading each squad to successful seasons. Additionally, Shackford's duties included evaluating players for the college game. The Development Academy was instituted by U.S. Soccer to put a more effective player development infrastructure in place.
A 2001 inductee into the William & Mary Athletics Hall of Fame, Shackford has received numerous other honors. She was inducted into the DC-VA Hall of Fame in 2011, the Mercer County (N.J.) Hall of Fame in 2015 and was named the 2006 Spirit of the Game Award winner by the Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association of New Jersey. She earned her bachelor's degree in government from William & Mary before earning her master's degree in public management from Carnegie Mellon in 1995.
A native of Burke, Va., Shackford is married to Bo Wilhelm and the couple is raising five children, Savannah and Kevin Wilhelm, and Kayleigh, Cameron and Keegan Shackford.
