Hall of Fame
Steve Barrows is a long-time Ranger who started the Women’s Soccer program at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 2000. Barrows coached 11 seasons
(2001-2011) with the Rangers. He graduated in 1983 with a bachelor’s in psychology and sociology and later obtained a master’s in psychology.
Barrows was a kicker for the 1980 football team. He competed on the Northwestern Men’s Club team as a player/coach before playing for four clubs: F.C Monterey, United Stars, Budweiser and Albuquerque Gunners.
After his playing days, he became the general manager and president of the Albuquerque Gunners, part of the Southwest Indoor Soccer League. He helped lead them to the MITRE National Championships. He returned to the pitch with the Lobos, a premier indoor soccer league team in Kansas City.
Barrows returned to Northwestern to establish the Ranger soccer program. Starting with a blank slate and no players or field, Barrows built the program from the ground up. In his inaugural season, he turned a 4-14 team into a 13-win team the following year, reaching the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) semifinals. Northwestern’s best season under Barrows was in 2004, with a 16-3-2 record, finishing 5-0-1 in the SAC. After being SAC Champions, the 2004 team earned a spot in the Region VI Tournament.
Barrows was recognized in 2004 as the SAC Coach of the Year. He coached third-team All-American forward Sherina Wood, also in the Northwestern Sports Hall of Fame. That team featured three other first-team All-SAC players. Three of Barrows’ teams made the top 25 national rankings in 2003-2005.
Coach Barrows helped lead the team off the field as well. His teams reached national team academic and sportsmanship recognition in every season. Barrows was awarded the 2007 John Sheffield Teacher of the Year Award for outstanding efforts in the classroom. During his tenure, his team had the third highest GPA of all universities, received the Gold Award (zero yellow [cautionary] cards) and twice received the Silver Award (less than three yellow cards).
Barrows is a veteran, retiring after 25 years of distinguished service with the U.S. Army and the Oklahoma and Kansas Army National Guard units.
