The University of the Fraser Valley men\u2019s soccer program marked a changing of the guard this week.
\nHead coach Alan Errington has retired after 11 years at the helm of the Cascades, and he\u2019s being succeeded by Tom Lowndes, his assistant coach the past two seasons. Lowndes will serve a one-year term as interim head coach.
\n\u201cHow fortunate we have been at UFV for 11 years having Alan at the helm of the men’s soccer program,\u201d Cascades acting athletic director Chris Bertram said. \u201cWhen the team moved to the CIS in 2006 we needed someone who could put the team on the map quickly, and that’s exactly what Alan has done. He leaves a great legacy at UFV and indeed across the B.C. soccer landscape.
\n\u201cThe choice to offer Tom the interim coaching position was an easy one to make. He knows the game, the team, the system, and is in the perfect position to help take the team to the next level this season. We couldn’t be happier to have Tom take over the head coaching duties.\u201d
\nErrington is closing the book on a legendary coaching career, and he can pinpoint its start date \u2013 Nov. 10 1974, when he suffered a broken ankle playing soccer for a team in Richmond, B.C. and thought, \u201cIf I can\u2019t play, I might as well coach.\u201d
\nAfter cutting his teeth coaching in the B.C. provincial program, Errington took the reins of the Vancouver Whitecaps reserve team, helping develop players who contributed to the team\u2019s North American Soccer League (NASL) Soccer Bowl title in 1979.
\nHe credits his early years coaching with the Whitecaps, spending time with great soccer minds like Tony Waiters, Les Wilson, Bob McNabb, John Giles, Nobby Stiles, John Craven and Richard Dinnis, as pivotal in his career.
\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t have had a better group of people to learn from,\u201d he said. \u201cI was in a good environment with good mentors. They all made the game as simple as it could be, rather than making it difficult. I\u2019ve carried that all the way through.\u201d
\nErrington would go on to serve as Bob Lenarduzzi\u2019s assistant coach with a Vancouver 86ers side that won four straight Canadian Soccer League championships (1988-1991) and had a record 46-game undefeated streak in 1988-89.
\nHe also worked extensively for Canada Soccer, both with youth and senior men\u2019s national teams, and was part of the coaching staff of the men\u2019s side that qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Later on, as Lenarduzzi\u2019s assistant coach, he helped guide the squad to within one game of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup.
\nLenarduzzi, now the president of Whitecaps FC, was in attendance at Tuesday\u2019s Cascades awards banquet and paid tribute to Errington for mentoring him as he made the transition from player to coach.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s had an impact on many lives, and there\u2019s no question he\u2019s had a massive impact on my life as well,\u201d Lenarduzzi said.
\nIn Abbotsford, beyond his contributions at UFV, Errington is remembered fondly for guiding the Abbotsford Magnuson Ford Soccer Club\u2019s U18 boys team to back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003.
\nErrington steered the Cascades men\u2019s soccer team through its transition from the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) into the Canada West conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).
\nFacing incredibly stiff competition in the Pacific Division of Canada West, arguably the toughest university men\u2019s soccer division in the nation, the Cascades didn\u2019t make the playoffs until their eighth season. They broke through in 2013, not only punching their post-season ticket but going on to win a conference bronze medal. Errington\u2019s final campaign, 2014, saw the Cascades return to the playoffs for a second straight year.
\nThe 65-year-old isn\u2019t departing the soccer world entirely \u2013 he\u2019s coaching a U13 boys team for the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club. But he does plan to spend more time on cruise ships with his wife Ruth \u2013 the couple celebrates their 45th wedding anniversary on Saturday.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve got mixed emotions about retirement, because I really enjoy the job,\u201d said Errington, who has twice been inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame with the 1979 Whitecaps and the 1988-89 86ers.
\n\u201cI enjoy the people at UFV, and the players. The only thing I don\u2019t enjoy is the hour\u2019s drive there and back (to his home in Coquitlam). But I feel ready to retire. I want to spend more time with my wife, and do the things that I haven\u2019t been able to do because football always got in the way.\u201d
\nLowndes, a 26-year-old who hails from Undy, Wales, is a former academy player for Bristol Rovers FC in England, and played varsity soccer in North America at Baker University (an NAIA program in Kansas) and Simon Fraser University (NCAA Div. II). He was a two-time all-conference honouree at Baker University and helped the Wildcats to the 2011 NAIA Final Four.
\nAt the conclusion of his university eligibility, Lowndes transitioned to the coaching ranks as an assistant with the Baker men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams, and helped guide the Wildcats women\u2019s squad to the NAIA Sweet 16 in 2012.
\nHe joined the Cascades in 2013 to work under Errington, and called it a \u201cbig honour\u201d to follow in his footsteps as head coach.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s done so much from the program, built it from the ground up and taken it from a college program to a team that\u2019s consistently challenging in Canada West,\u201d Lowndes said.
\n\u201cThis is probably the proudest moment of my professional career so far. I\u2019m looking to put my own stamp on it. Alan did a great job of establishing the program, and I\u2019m looking to take it to new heights. With the squad we have coming back and the incoming players, my goal is to contend for the Canada West title, which sounds like an ambitious goal but I think we can do it.\u201d
\nErrington said that Lowndes, nearly 40 years his junior, is a better coach than he was at that age. Errington\u2019s soccer connections being what they are, he recalls coaching Team Canada against Welsh national teams featuring Lowndes\u2019s father Steve.
\n\u201cI think Tom is a perfect fit at UFV,\u201d Errington said. \u201cHe\u2019s grown up in a professional environment. That\u2019s invaluable, because 99 per cent of coaches in Canada get their experience form coaching courses. Tom\u2019s learned from a pro. He\u2019s well-prepared because of that, and the players really like him.
\n\u201cI feel that the program is in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For more information, contact Dan Kinvig at dan.kinvig@ufv.ca<\/a><\/p>\n 03\/31\/2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The University of the Fraser Valley men\u2019s soccer program marked a changing of the guard this week. Head coach Alan Errington has retired after 11 years at the helm of the Cascades, and he\u2019s being succeeded by Tom Lowndes, his assistant coach the past two seasons. Lowndes will serve a one-year term as interim head … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7638"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7642,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7638\/revisions\/7642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/announce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}