Alan Alderson can't be faulted for leaving the UNBC athletics department in a tight spot. He found an appealing job opportunity and he took it. Everyone - no matter how much a previous employer might be inconvenienced - has the right to do that.
Alderson had been head coach of the UNBC Timberwolves men's soccer team for three seasons, and when he decided to take a coaching position with the Whitecaps FC London Youth Academy Centre in the southern Ontario city, he put UNBC in a situation of having to find a new head coach in a heck of a hurry. His decision was made public on July 23 and the Timberwolves are now on the verge of starting their exhibition schedule. They will leave Monday for games in Kamloops and Calgary.
And, as of today, they don't have a head coach or even an assistant coach. Their assistant from last season, Sonny Pawar, is no longer in the picture as he moved to Victoria at the beginning of the month.
All of this has made for some stressful days for UNBC athletics director Loralyn Murdoch. She has had to spearhead a search for Alderson's replacement in a very small window of time. As well, she is in the process of filling the university's sports information officer position, which also became vacant this summer. Murdoch joked this week that she'll have to try to claw back some of her vacation time once things settle down a bit.
The good news for the men's soccer team is that, according to Murdoch, a new interim head coach will be in place for Monday and the start of the exhibition season. The posting for the job closed this past Monday, and a dozen candidates applied. Interviews will likely wrap up today and the successful individual will be ready to go to work right away.
"All the applicants are well aware of our timeline and it's going to be basically ASAP," Murdoch said.
The new coach will have the job from now until November. After that, a full-time coach (who could very well be the same person) will be found. As for the calibre of the current job applicants, Murdoch is more than happy.
"We've got some excellent candidates that are well aware of our situation," she said. "There are many that are aware of the team, that have contacts within the team, that in one way or another have worked with Al or some of the guys. So there are many candidates that are going to be able to step in and provide us with what we need for this year."
The new coach will lead the Timberwolves into their fourth season of competition in the Canada West conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport and he or she will have a nice core of returning players on the roster (a lot of them recruited by Alderson). Offence will come from guys like Tofa Fakunle and Francesco Bartolillo, while the defence will be anchored by people like Connor Noftle and goalkeeper Ty Venhola. The task for the Timberwolves will be to improve upon last season's 3-9-0 record and challenge for a playoff spot. Not an easy thing to do, but as a fourth-year program in Canada West, it's time to start making some noise.
For the Timberwolves, the real games start on the Sept. 11-12 weekend in Victoria against the always-powerful Vikes. Those contests will serve as a perfect measuring stick for the T-wolves. The players and their coach will know right away where the club is in terms of its development, and how much it has to improve to be considered a Canada West contender.
