New Vancouver beat writer Aaron Campbell makes his Prost debut and examines the hire of the first ever WFC2 head coach Alan Koch.
All about Alan – Koch Named New WFC2 Manager
by Aaron Campbell
It was just nine miles (or 15 kilometers for the Canadian readers) from home that the Vancouver Whitecaps front office had to travel to find their new USL Pro manager. Perched atop SFU mountain on Terry Fox field they have found their man, his name is Alan Koch.
On Friday Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi made the announcement that most people have speculated for awhile that SFU means soccer coach Alan Koch will be in charge of running the WFC2 in there inaugural year in USL Pro.
Koch 39, has been a main stay and the face of SFU soccer for the past seven years.
His record of 126W-21L-7D at SFU has made him one of the top coaches in all of University mens soccer. He became the quickest coach in SFU history to achieve 100 victories and earned Conference Coach of the Year for 6 straight season. four Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) championships, two NCAA Division II regional championships, and two berths in the NCAA Division II Final Four.
The past two season he has been working closely with Carl Robinson and the first teams coaching staff by over-seeing the clubs college scouting responsibilities. This isn’t his first time being a coach under the Whitecaps umbrella, in 2009 he was named head coach for the Whitecaps FC womens team who competed in the USL W-League.
Koch carries a Canadian “B” license, a UEFA “B” badge and is currently completing his UEFA “A” through the Irish Football Association. The Durban South Africa native also holds a NSCAA Premier Diploma with distinction and various South African licenses.
Speaking to reporters after the announcement Koch added:
“This is an amazing opportunity and one that I’m very excited about, I’m grateful to the club for bringing me in, and I’m looking forward to working with Robbo and his technical staff. We share a similar philosophy and vision. I’m ready to hit the ground running.”
Bobby Lenarduzzi was equally excited when speaking to reporters:
“Alan has had great success over the past seven years at SFU, We’re looking forward to working with him in the next step of his career as we get set for the inaugural season of WFC2.”
Lenarduzzi went on the explain.
“It’s a perfect partnership, He knows the market. He’s going to be tasked in bridging the gap between the potential of these players and how far they can go, and ideally equipping them with the knowledge that will allow a number of those young players to actually graduate through to our MLS team.”
The Whitecaps also announced that long time residency coach Steve Meadley will join Koch as an assistant and goalkeeper coach Raegyn Hall will also work with the WFC2 side.
Later with an exclusive to Michael McColl of AFTN Canada Koch when on and explained how his appointment was possibly made easier with the passion he holds for football like current Whitecaps first team manger Carl Robinson
“I think so,” Koch told AFTN. “We’re people who are very passionate about the game. We love the game. We can talk very easily about the game. And then obviously having done some work with him.
“I was here last summer watching him train all the time. I guess he was picking my brain, I was picking his brain. And then going through the whole draft process in terms of scouting players, assessing players. Seeing what he values and what I value. I think we can say we’re on a very, very similar page.”
Also See:
Make That 8 Homegrown in Vancouver
Les Wilson Part Four: Canada in the World Cup
Les Wilson Part 3 – a Cascadian comes home
Les Wilson Part 2 – Cascadian Soccer Pioneer – Meeting legends at Wolves
Les Wilson Part 1 – The Cascadian who played in the EPL
