Chris McDonough will be returning as head coach of Powell River Villa soccer club for the 2018/2019 Vancouver Island Soccer League season.
McDonough led Villa in winning the league’s Division 3A title last year and on a BC Soccer provincial championship run that ended with the club losing in a close semifinal game.
Coming back was not a hard decision, according to McDonough.
“We had a good year last year and I enjoyed it personally; it was fun for me,” he said. “We've built a pretty good team here.”
Star midfielder Jake Kenmuir, the third leading scorer in Division 3A and MVP last season, will also be back for another season. He said the players are happy McDonough has chosen to return.
“He's a proven winner,” said Kenmuir. “We all feel comfortable with him and he feels comfortable with us. We know what we're getting. He's one of the best coaches I've had in my career.”
McDonough said playing against Division 2 teams will be tougher than the competition in the lower ranks.
“There are no easy games; every game is a battle,” he said. “We'll sit down with everyone and see exactly what the team looks like, but we expect most of the players to return. We’ll challenge for the top of the league; that's what our expectations are.”
A surprise for Villa was the impression left by younger players who shone last season. McDonough expects many of those players to return as well.
“We'll probably get the majority of the youth players we had last year returning on permit or signing directly and we always have our eyes open for new players coming up,” he said. “We hope to add a player or two this year if that fits in with what we have.”
It is no longer easy to crack Villa’s winning lineup, according to Kenmuir.
“We're looking to build on what we had last year,” said Kenmuir. “We have a good young core of players stepping up, like Kurtis Dennison, Matt Liknes, Nick Van’t Schip and Jarek Long. Those guys are really stepping up to be all-star players. It's been a while since Powell River had that.”
Kye Taylor, Daniel Paul, Scott Sawchuk, Scott Livingstone, Craig Simmons and Patrick Rainville are also part of that group.
Former Bundesliga player Greg Smith, who joined the team late last season and showed himself to be a game changer able to single-handedly dictate play, will become the team’s new strength and conditioning coach and physiotherapist, in addition to suiting up to play.
“Greg has offered up his services,” said McDonough. “Having him in our team leadership group adds more to what we have. We're excited to have someone who helps us in conditioning and injury prevention and recovery. It's a nice piece to add to what we have.”
Villa also announced that Dean Thorsell is returning to the team as an assistant coach and player.
“Dean has consistently been there for the team for a number of years,” said McDonough. “He's well-known throughout the community and having him back as assistant coach will give us some good week-to-week management of the team.”
Villa’s training begins on Tuesday, August 7, at Brooks Secondary School turf.
