ATHLETICS AT THE CIA
Students at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) are known for their dexterity with knives and speed in the kitchen. But dexterity with a soccer ball and speed on the cross country trails? That is quickly becoming the case, as this year the CIA is doubling the size of its intercollegiate athletics program, competing in four sports: soccer, basketball, cross-country, and tennis.
Download the 2008 CIA Soccer Schedule
(PDF 4.25 MB)
Download the 2008 Cross-Country Schedule
(PDF 1.14 MB)
Download the 2008–2009 Basketball Schedule
(PDF 5.87 MB)
The CIA Steels
The CIA Steels have been playing against other colleges in basketball and soccer for the past three years as a member of the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference (HVMAC). In fact, the Steels won the conference championship in soccer for the past two years, posting an impressive 22-2-1 record during that period.
The Steels' fall season got underway on September 6 with a cross-country meet at Vassar College and a home soccer game against Cooper Union.
As defending champion, the CIA will be hosting the 2008 HVMAC soccer championship game in Hyde Park on November 2. Other schools in the conference include the Albany College of Pharmacy, Berkeley College, Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, St. Joseph's College, Vaughn College of Aeronautics, and Webb Institute.
The "Steels" nickname comes from the kitchen tool used to sharpen chefs' knives.
All CIA teams are co-ed, and students must maintain a 2.0 grade point average to participate in CIA sports.
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Coaches' Bios
Sean Furey – Basketball Head Coach
Sean Furey is in his first year as head basketball coach of The Culinary Institute of America. He is a 2000 graduate of Monorent Mountain Regional High School, where he averaged more than 22 points and 11 rebounds a game in his senior year.
Furey went on to Elms College in Chicopee, MA. A 2004 cum laude graduate with a degree in social work, he was a two-year captain and starting power forward for the Blazers, a successful NCAA Division III program.
In the 2006–07 season, Furey spent the year as assistant men's basketball coach at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, leading the Brewers to a winning record and ultimately the ECAC tournament championship. Furey has also coached at many well-regarded college-sponsored summer basketball camps.
This is Coach Furey's first head coaching position at the college level.
Lowell Fisher – Cross-Country Head Coach
As a coach for more than 15 years, Lowell Fisher has fielded many successful cross-country and track and field programs at the high school level in New York State. Coach Fisher joined the CIA staff at the beginning of the 2008 season to guide the Steels in the formation of this new intercollegiate program.
As a high school coach in the Hudson Valley region, Fisher has devised a system for winning. He coached two state contending programs that produced many team and individual success stories. Within three years, he led Rhinebeck High School (NY) to its first two team championships in school history in 1997 and 1998. Those teams were eventually represented at the New York State Championships. While coaching at Millbrook High School (NY), Coach Fisher continued his success with divisional, league, and state championships. His teams have produced individual league, county, state and federation champions, and many athletes hold school, league, and sectional records. Along with having a successful program at The Culinary, Coach Fisher is also determined to embed the principles of running into the student-athletes so they become passionate lifelong runners.
Mike Murphy – Soccer Head Coach
Mike Murphy, the full-time coordinator of fitness and intramural sports at the CIA for the past nine years, has also worn the"toque" of head soccer coach since 2006 for the college.
Under his guidance and direction, the program has flourished, winning the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference Championships in both 2006 and 2007. As a result, Murphy was named HVMAC Coach of the Year for the past two seasons.
Brought up in a soccer family, Coach Murphy has always been involved in the game. He preaches hard work and dedication to all of his athletes, not only on the soccer field, but in the classroom as well. Every year he welcomes the challenges of coaching as the students juggle their athletics and very demanding class schedules.
Coach Murphy's main "goal" is to have each of his athletes graduate from the CIA with a quality intercollegiate athletic experience and leave as a well-respected culinary professional and person.
