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2011 Summer Universiade: Canada’s men’s soccer coaching staff announced
OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced
Thursday the coaching staff that will lead Canada in men’s
soccer at the 26th Summer Universiade from August 12 to 23, 2011,
in Shenzhen, China.
Official website 2011 Summer Universiade: www.sz2011.org/eng
Steve Hart from the University of Windsor has been appointed Team
Canada head coach and will be accompanied by assistant coach Keith
Mason from the University of Guelph and team leader Graham Kennedy
from St. Francis Xavier University.
Hart and Kennedy will be making their Universiade debut in
Shenzhen, while Mason was general manager of the Canadian entry at
the 2003 FISU Games in South Korea.
“I’m very excited about the challenge ahead,”
said Hart, who holds the positions of head coach and director of
Lancer soccer operations at Windsor. “I’m looking
forward to working with the best players that Canada has at the
university level.”
The Canadian roster, comprised for the most part of CIS standouts,
will be announced in the spring of 2011.
After achieving the best Universiade result in team history in 2007
in Thailand with a fourth-place finish, Canada took a step back in
2009 in Belgrade, Serbia, placing 12th in a field of 16 countries.
Previous Canadian results at the tournament include a 15th position
in 2003, 16th in 1995 (Japan), 16th in 1993 (Buffalo) and 12th in
1979 (Mexico).
Hart was named OUA men’s soccer coach of the year for the
second time last fall at the end of his fourth campaign at the helm
of the Lancers. He had just led Windsor to third place overall in
Ontario thanks to an 8-1-5 regular season record - the
program’s best since1993 - only four years after inheriting a
winless team (0-7-3). Under his leadership, the Lancers have racked
up 21 victories and 15 ties in 56 conference games since 2006,
after winning only six times in the four seasons that preceded his
arrival.
Prior to joining the Lancers, Hart captured numerous provincial and
regional honours, including the U-19 Ontario Cup in 2001.
Mason celebrated his 10th campaign at the helm of the Gryphons last
fall, after serving as head coach of Guelph’s women’s
team for seven years. The native of West Bromwich, England, who
moved to Canada in 1981, led the Gryphons to a 6-7-1 league record
in 2009.
Following one year as an associate coach, Kennedy was in his first
season as head coach at StFX in 2009 after taking over from 39-year
sideline boss Lou Bilek. The X-Men men’s soccer alumnus, who
received his UEFA B coaching license in 2005, guided X to a 5-4-4
mark in AUS play in his head coaching debut.
CANADA’S
MEN’S SOCCER COACHING STAFF 2011
UNIVERSIADE:
Head coach: Steve Hart, University of Windsor
Assistant coach: Keith Mason, University of Guelph
Team leader: Graham Kennedy, St. Francis Xavier University
CANADA’S
MEN’S SOCCER RESULTS AT THE UNIVERSIADE:
2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): 12th / 16 teams
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 4th / 16
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 15th / 16
1995 (Fukuoka, Japan): 16th / 16
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 16th / 16
1979 (Mexico City, Mexico): 12th / 24
-CIS-
