Albert Anson Dorrance IV (born April 9, 1951) is a retired American soccer coach.

Under Dorrance's leadership, the Tar Heels have won 21 of the 41 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships.

He has led his team to a 101-game unbeaten streak and coached 13 different women to a total of 20 National Player of the Year awards.

[4] After graduating from Villa St. Jean, he moved to the United States and attended St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, where he played soccer for a semester.

That year he also married his childhood sweetheart, M'Liss Gary, with whom he has three children: Michelle, Natalie, and Donovan.

His greatest success with the men's team came in 1987 when he led them to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship.

When the NCAA showed no interest in establishing one, Dorrance and University of Colorado coach Chris Lidstone approached the AIAW, who were receptive to the idea.

[11] Within two years of the start of the program, Dorrance had guided the Tar Heels to the 1981 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) title.

He decided to develop an atmosphere at UNC in which women were rewarded for having an aggressive desire to win.

[13] Regarding the aggressiveness, Santa Clara University women's soccer coach Jerry Smith noted in a 1998 Sports Illustrated article, "When you watch them, you can see the edge they have.

In taking the job Dorrance delivered a letter containing a stark warning to the players he inherited: "If you don't come in fit, I will cut you!

He has coached some of the finest players in women's soccer history including Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly.

In October 2004 U.S. District Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley Jr. threw out the six-year lawsuit, stating the "behavior at issue does not constitute severe, pervasive and objectively offensive sexual harassment.

The 4th Circuit Court found in favor of Dorrance, the majority opinion stating "When the evidence in this case is viewed most favorably to Jennings, the evidence shows that Dorrance used vulgar language and participated in sexual banter at practice with some women that he coached and that he once directed a vulgar question at Jennings.

Jennings immediately responded to Dorrance’s vulgar question with her own profane reply and that ended the inquiry.

The dissenting opinion, authored by Judge M. Blane Michael, said that Dorrance's conduct "went far beyond simple teasing and qualified as sexual harassment.

"[18] On October 1, 2007, the United States Supreme Court denied a petition by the state Attorney General's Office for the court to hear a nine-year-old sexual harassment suit against UNC-Chapel Hill and its women's soccer coach, Anson Dorrance.

The coach issued a written apology to the player, her family, and team members saying that his comments were inappropriate.