Mohawk College

Background:
Paul Giannini began coaching the Mountaineers women's soccer program in the 2021 season.

Giannini's impact on Hamilton's soccer community extends beyond Mohawk as he has also spent time as an assistant with Hamilton United's '06 and '07 OPDL female teams. He also has spent team as the Chairperson for League1 Ontario, a semi-professional soccer league with a men's and women's division.

From 2017-2019, Giannini served as the head coach of Hamilton United's women's team in League1 Ontario.

Prior to joining Hamilton United and Ontario League1, Giannini made his mark coaching the Saltfleet Stoney Creek Soccer Club's 2000 girl's team. He coached the team for over ten years while finding an abundance of individual and team success but he's most remembered for his ability to move players onto the NCAA level. The Hamilton native was able to land scholarships for 15 of his 17 players on the 2000 team, including 14 of them at the Division I level to schools such as Kansas, South Florida and Seton Hall.

Prior to all of those scholarships, Giannini was able to capture an Ontario Cup and a national championship, as well as three appearances in the Ontario Cup Finals. The team was ranked No. 1 in the province for three consecutive years. 

Beyond his coaching career, he currently runs Absolute Soccer, a community soccer retail store which he has owned for 20 years. Absolute Soccer has locations in Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Burlington, St. Catharines and Mississauga. 

At Mohawk:

2021 Season: 
In his first season at the helm of the Mountaineers women's soccer program, the team had some growing pains finishing with a 1-4-1 record. Despite making the playoffs, Mohawk could not advance past the first round.

2022 Season:
Season two was the Mountaineers best year-over-year improvement in program history as the team went undefeated with a 5-0-5 record, finishing with the second best record in the OCAA West division. The program would also win its first OCAA playoff match since the 2017 season to advance to the OCAA Championship tournament. 

2023 Season:
The improvements for Mohawk women's soccer under Giannini kept coming. They would improve by one win in the 2023 season with a 6-2-2 record - the highest win total since the 2017 season. The Mountaineers offensive also took a step forward scoring 22 goals for the campaign. Mohawk would again advance to the OCAA quarterfinal round. The biggest accolade for the Mountaineers was that seven of the student-athletes earned OCAA all-star honours - making up nearly one-third of the OCAA west all-star list.

2024 Season:
The women's soccer program started the 2024 year with an exhibition trip down south to play two NAIA opponents. Mohawk in the two-game trip were a perfect 2-0 with a goal differential of 7-2. 

Regular season play was a small step back with a 4-4-2 record. The Mohawk offense was limited to 13 goals in 10 matches, but the defence remained stellar under Giannini, allowing only 11 goals. For the third conseucitve season, the Mountaineers advanced to the OCAA quarterfinal round, but could not overcome the hump to advance further in the playoffs.