ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s soccer assistant coach Chris Little was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Assistant Coach of the Year for the South Region, the association announced.

Little will be honored along with the other regional winners at the NSCAA/adidas College Coaches Awards Reception on Thursday, Jan. 17, in Indianapolis, Ind., and is a candidate for the Glenn “Mooch” Myernick National Assistant Coach of the Year Award.

“It is very humbling to be recognized by fellow coaches for this award,” said Little. “My work here at Elon is only a small part of the fantastic group of staff that support our players.”

Little has been instrumental in Elon’s success since he arrived to join head coach Darren Powell’s staff in 2010, and has helped the program reach new heights in his three years with the team. In Little’s second season with the program, the Phoenix won its first Southern Conference tournament title and made the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

“We are very happy to see Chris get this award,” said Powell. “Chris’s contributions to the team have been enormous, his work ethic and dedication are appreciated by the coaching staff and the players. Chris was hands-on with our team success this season, and the Elon community is very proud to have him here.”

The Phoenix had arguably its best season as a program in 2012, as the Maroon and Gold captured both the SoCon regular-season title and the league’s tournament championship for the first time in the same season. Elon went 15-5-2, went 3-1 against ranked competition during the regular-season and earned a spot in the national polls for the first time since 2006.

Little also helped coach members of the program to numerous individual accolades in 2012, with several of them going to Chris Thomas, who was named an All-American, SoCon Player of the Year and MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist. Elon also had three members of the squad placed on the All-South Region teams and six earned All-SoCon recognition.

At the collegiate level, the national assistant coach award is named for Glenn "Mooch" Myernick, the former U.S. national team assistant coach, who passed away in 2007.