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Vickery and Bears soccer primed for CW regular season and to host CIS Championship
Matt Gutsch
(September 5, 2006) Len Vickery believes his Alberta Golden Bears soccer team has the pieces in place for a serious run at the 2006 CIS National Championship.
The 2005 season saw the Golden Bears finish third in both the Canada West conference and the Canada West play-offs. A loss in the CW semi-final game to Trinity West denied the Bears the opportunity to progress to the National Championship, but they ended on a positive note, winning the CW bronze medal.
Solidifying the head coach’s 2006 case is the veteran roster, including Second team Canada West All-Star goalie Devon Fraser, CW MVP midfielder Mark Korthuis, 2004 CW Rookie of the Year striker John Konye as well as fifth year players Jarin Myskiw, Hilaire Kamdem and Michael Kennedy. Added to that is the group of young players in the system and the return of striker Junior Castrillon who left the U of A program to pursue professional opportunities abroad after scoring the winning goal for the Bears in their 2003 CIS championship season.
“We have worked extremely hard to bring together a strong group of players to compete and challenge for CW and CIS national championship honours” said Vickery, now in his 22 year of coaching the Alberta program.
Vickery continued by adding that not only is present competitive, but the future looks bright for the Bears as well, “we have a strong core of 3rd and 4th year players and we will be introducing three youth national team players into the squad this season in Harman Braich (defender), Eddy Sidra (midfield) and goalkeeper Jas Gill.”
Further aiding Vickery’s cause is the fact that the University of Alberta is hosting the CIS National championship, November 6-10 at Foote Field and Clarke Park and are guaranteed an automatic berth into the Championship as host. The Golden Bears bench boss is confident that such a promise won’t hinder his squad.
“We’re hosting the CIS national championships for the first time in my 22 years at the helm but even with an automatic berth nothing changes in our goal and determination to succeed a the CW level. Ideally we would enter the national championships as the CW champion.”
The strength of the Canada West conference was reflected at the 2005 CIS National Championships, held at UPEI, where the Canada West conference representatives UBC and Trinity Western won gold and bronze respectively, so the Bears’ coach knows his squad has their work cut out for them.
“UBC are reigning CIS National champions” said Vickery. “The coastal schools always feature strongly, including TWU and Victoria. The Calgary Dinos and Saskatchewan Huskies were youthful in 2005 and have demonstrated progress according to pre-season games and results. Fraser Valley and Lethbridge will also be competitive.”
The coach continued by summing up his thoughts on the upcoming season “with an influx of outstanding recruits and a number of senior players returning from injury or for continuation of their studies the 2006 season looks extremely positive!”
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