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Mark Berson (born March 16, 1953 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American former soccer player and coach. Berson started his coaching career at The Citadel in 1976 and then spent 43 seasons as the head men's soccer coach at the University of South Carolina. He holds a US Soccer "A" coaching license and was a member of the US Soccer National Instructional Staff from 1989 to 2023. He served as the head coach of the U.S. Men's U-18 National Team and was active on the Region III (South) staff as a coach for two decades competing in tournaments in Europe, Mexico and South America.[1]
Berson retired from college soccer after the 2021 season with 522 career wins – the most wins of any active NCAA Division I coach and one of only three Division I coaches with more than 500 wins.[2] Berson's South Carolina coaching record stands at 511-261-76 (.647) with an overall record of 522-266-76 (.648).[2] At South Carolina, Berson coached 375 student-athletes who received more than 250 awards for their performance both on and off the field.[3]
Since 2022, Berson has served as an on-site match director for Major League Soccer (MLS). In the summer of 2025, Berson also served as a FIFA on-site match commissioner for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Tournament in the United States.
Berson attended Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey where he was a midfielder on the 1969 N.J. state championship team. He subsequently enrolled at the University of North Carolina.[4] where he played midfield his freshman year and goalkeeper the final three years. He received the UNC Educational Foundation Award for Men's Soccer in his senior year and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He then earned a master's degree in sport administration from Ohio University.
Berson took a position as the assistant coach on The Citadel's men's soccer program in 1976. A year later, he became the head coach and guided the Bulldogs to their best record ever with an 11–5 mark.[3] In 1978, Berson accepted the head coaching position at the University of South Carolina – which included the task of elevating men's soccer from a club sport to a varsity sport. He led the Gamecocks to a 13–3–1 record in the program's first season. In the second season, the Gamecocks went 14-5-0 and earned their first berth in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.[5]
Gamecock Soccer achieved a high level success under Berson's guidance, including 34 winning seasons in 43 years; 22 NCAA Tournaments; 10 top ten final rankings; and 7 top five final rankings.[6] Because the Southeastern Conference (SEC) did not sponsor men's soccer, South Carolina competed as an independent for 28 years, routinely playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.[6] South Carolina won 4 conference championships in 15 years of conference affiliation.[5]
When Berson retired, South Carolina ranked 16th all-time in Division I winning percentage (top 8%); 12th all-time in Division I NCAA Tournament appearances (top 6%); and 10th in Division I NCAA Tournament appearances from 1977 – the year Berson founded the South Carolina program (top 5%).[7][8]
Berson coached 13 All-Americans (including two National Goalkeepers of the Year); 15 Freshman All-Americans (including one National Freshman of the Year); 12 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans; 79 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA, now called United Soccer Coaches) All-South Region honorees; and 70 All-Conference players (in 15 years), including 17 first team selections and 4 Freshman of the Year selections.[3][9]
32 Gamecocks played for their respective national teams, including the U.S. U-17, U-18, U-20 and U-23 National Teams, the U.S. Olympic Team, and the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT).[9][10] Remarkably, there was at least one former Gamecock player on the USMNT for 21 consecutive years – most notably, Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff and Brad Guzan. South Carolina was one of only two college programs (the other was UCLA) to have at least one player competing in the 2002 (Korea/Japan), 2006 (Germany), 2010 (South Africa) and 2014 (Brazil) World Cup Finals.[1] After their college careers, more than 65 Gamecock players were drafted or signed to play professional soccer in the U.S. and abroad.[1]
During Berson's tenure, Gamecock Soccer also excelled in the classroom, earning 12 NSCAA Academic Team Awards (1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016) and posting the highest team GPA in the nation twice (2010 and 2013).[1]
Berson received multiple NCSAA South Region coach of the year honors, conference coach of the year honors, and independent coach of the year honors.[5] He is a recipient of the prestigious Bill Jeffery Award[11] from the United States Soccer Coaches Association (USCAA, now known as United Soccer Coaches) for his outstanding service and achievement in college soccer, which included the following citation: "Berson's colleagues have described him as someone who shaped the college game through his tenure of service to his players. In addition to Berson being a soccer coach at one of the highest levels, he is respected more importantly for being a gentleman."[12]
Berson has been inducted into the University of South Carolina Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame, the State of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, and the South Carolina Youth Soccer Association Hall of Fame.[3][9]
Following Berson's retirement, the USC men's soccer alumni and friends of the USC men's soccer program endowed an annual scholarship his name and the University of South Carolina Gamecock Club created a webpage to celebrate his career at: https://thegamecockclub.com/celebrating-mark-berson/.
バーソンは、多くの選手にコーチになることを促し、コーチの道に進んだ選手たちのキャリアアップを支援した。元ゲームコックスの選手やアシスタントコーチは、アパラチアン州立大学、ベイツ大学、ブラウン大学、セントラルフロリダ大学、シカゴ大学、クレムソン大学、デビッドソン大学、エバンズビル大学、フロリダアトランティック大学、ファーマン大学、ケンタッキー大学（女子）、モントクレア州立大学、モアヘッド州立大学（女子）、マウントセントメアリーズ大学（メリーランド州）、ニューベリー大学、レジス大学、セントジョンズ大学、ワシントンカレッジ、ワシントンカレッジ（女子）など、少なくとも19の大学サッカープログラムでヘッドコーチを務めている。[ 1 ]
ゲームコックスの選手やアシスタントコーチは、さまざまなMLSクラブのヘッドコーチ、アシスタントコーチ、最高執行責任者、スポーツディレクター、スカウト、オンサイトマッチディレクター、およびユナイテッドサッカーリーグ（USL）の会長や最高サッカー責任者も務めてきた。[ 1 ]
ゲームコックスの選手たちは、ビジネス、金融、テクノロジー、法律、医学、政府、法執行機関、教育、医学研究、歯科、不動産開発、映画、音楽など、他の多くの分野で輝かしいキャリアを築いてきました。フーティー＆ザ・ブロウフィッシュのジム・“ソニ”・ソネフェルドもその一人です。[ 1 ]
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