Greenville, SC - The NCCAA is pleased to announce Gabriela Gonzalez of Bob Jones University (BJU) as the 2023 Joe and Q Harding Award Recipient for Division II Women’s Soccer.
 
Gabriela Gonzalez, an offensive threat for the Bruins has tallied 39 goals and 20 assists during her time at Bob Jones. Gonzalez earned First Team All-Regional in 2022, while also being named Regional Player of the Year. That same year she was recognized nationally as an NCCAA Second Team All-American. The senior studies political science, boasting a 3.59 GPA, and earning academic honors that include Dean’s List and NCCAA Scholar-Athlete.
 
Leading by example with honesty and love is the motto by which Gonzalez lives. This has been evident in the way she interacts with her teammates, critiquing them honestly, but sharing that critique with love and encouragement. She never asks something of her teammates that she is not willing to do herself and encourages them to be involved in ministry as she knows they have more to offer than just their performance on the field. Personally, she has served as a resident assistant and discipleship dorm leader at BJU, while also helping locally with the Carolina Pregnancy Center. Gonzalez spent the summer of 2023 working with Valiant Player, an organization that connects collegiate athletes with the Prisma Children’s Hospital, allowing them to interact with and show love to children who are suffering from serious illnesses.
 
Her coaches had this to say about her, “Gaby always attempts to do her best, work hard, and accomplish the goal set in front of her. Her actions constantly reflect Christ.”
 
Other Finalists
Esther Garren, Maranatha Baptist University
 
Award Description
Joe served multiple terms as NCCAA Men’s Soccer chair while coaching at Huntington University and Moody Bible Institute. His teams collected three NCCAA National Championships, and Joe earned both the NISOA Honor Award and the NCCAA Frank Jewell Award for his excellence and integrity in coaching. His most recent honor was as an inductee into the Malone University Hall of Fame (2021). Carol, or as all her friends know her, Q, was a five sport standout at Wheaton College. Throughout the years, while a university professor and assistant coach to Joe, she was an encourager and advocate for NCCAA, especially within the sport of soccer. She was a prayer warrior for Joe and his student-athletes and also for many of Joe’s opposing coaches and peers, always caring more for those leaders than for the result of the matches. The NCCAA is honored to be able to present this award in the names of Joe and Carol “Q” Harding.
 

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