Kennedy named to Team Canada coaching staff

2011 Summer Universiade
Canada’s men’s soccer coaching staff announced

OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Thursday the coaching staff that will lead Canada in men’s soccer at the 26th Summer Universiade from August 12 to 23, 2011, in Shenzhen, China.

Official website 2011 Summer Universiade: www.sz2011.org/eng 

Steve Hart from the University of Windsor has been appointed Team Canada head coach and will be accompanied by assistant coach Keith Mason from the University of Guelph and team leader Graham Kennedy from St. Francis Xavier University.

Hart and Kennedy will be making their Universiade debut in Shenzhen, while Mason was general manager of the Canadian entry at the 2003 FISU Games in South Korea.

“I’m very excited about the challenge ahead,” said Hart, who holds the positions of head coach and director of Lancer soccer operations at Windsor. “I’m looking forward to working with the best players that Canada has at the university level.”

The Canadian roster, comprised for the most part of CIS standouts, will be announced in the spring of 2011.

After achieving the best Universiade result in team history in 2007 in Thailand with a fourth-place finish, Canada took a step back in 2009 in Belgrade, Serbia, placing 12th in a field of 16 countries. Previous Canadian results at the tournament include a 15th position in 2003, 16th in 1995 (Japan), 16th in 1993 (Buffalo) and 12th in 1979 (Mexico).

Hart was named OUA men’s soccer coach of the year for the second time last fall at the end of his fourth campaign at the helm of the Lancers. He had just led Windsor to third place overall in Ontario thanks to an 8-1-5 regular season record - the program’s best since1993 - only four years after inheriting a winless team (0-7-3). Under his leadership, the Lancers have racked up 21 victories and 15 ties in 56 conference games since 2006, after winning only six times in the four seasons that preceded his arrival.

Prior to joining the Lancers, Hart captured numerous provincial and regional honours, including the U-19 Ontario Cup in 2001.

Mason celebrated his 10th campaign at the helm of the Gryphons last fall, after serving as head coach of Guelph’s women’s team for seven years. The native of West Bromwich, England, who moved to Canada in 1981, led the Gryphons to a 6-7-1 league record in 2009.

Following one year as an associate coach, Kennedy was in his first season as head coach at StFX in 2009 after taking over from 39-year sideline boss Lou Bilek. The X-Men men’s soccer alumnus, who received his UEFA B coaching license in 2005, guided X to a 5-4-4 mark in AUS play in his head coaching debut.

CANADA’S MEN’S SOCCER COACHING STAFF 2011 UNIVERSIADE:
Head coach: Steve Hart, University of Windsor
Assistant coach: Keith Mason, University of Guelph
Team leader: Graham Kennedy, St. Francis Xavier University

CANADA’S MEN’S SOCCER RESULTS AT THE UNIVERSIADE:
2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): 12th / 16 teams
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 4th / 16
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 15th / 16
1995 (Fukuoka, Japan): 16th / 16
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 16th / 16
1979 (Mexico City, Mexico): 12th / 24

About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years, and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.