The South Delta United Soccer Club is turning the page and heading in a new direction, one that club officials hope will see a resurgence for the community-led organization.
New board members have been elected including a new president Rick Ocean, who recently announced the hiring of Adam Day as the club’s Director of Football and Chris Cerroni and the new head of coaching.
Both Day and Cerroni bring a wealth of soccer knowledge to the club as well as a new sense of excitement and energy, something that the club has been lacking for the past few seasons.
“A parent informed me that the position was available and if I was interested in speaking with the new board,” said Day. “When these positions come up, you don’t understand what is already in place. It’s a community club and a grassroots club that is trying to be better and do better. One of the things that is a passion for me is to share my experiences in the game, whether that is as a player, as a coach or a coach educator to help the coaches become better, which helps the players become better and the club become better from a global perspective here in B.C., so that’s always the memo with these sorts of roles. That’s the ambition to help the community out here.”
Day grew up in the UK and went through the academy system and then played in the U.S. playing college soccer for four years.
He moved to Canada and specifically the Vancouver area when he was asked to tryout for the Vancouver Whitecaps. At the time, his girlfriend (now his wife), saw this as a beautiful part of the world that he wanted to be a part of.
“I’ve been very fortunate to play and coach globally in the UK, and the United States, but most of my time have been spent here in Canada and in Vancouver,” he said. “A coach is a thief in many respects as we just try to pass on good practices from everyone else and I enjoy that part of the job.”
Day said at this time of year in a grassroots soccer club world, it really is organizing chaos.
“People are away, they get to the long weekend (September) and then it’s back to life, back to school, back to sports, so it’s usually a really tense period,” he said. “We have some unique challenges in that we didn’t have a technical staff, so that is part of my job and Chris’s job to bring good people into the football club and that will be a challenge in the weeks, months and years to come. It’s been a difficult start in that respect, but once the kids are on the field playing and the coaches are coaching that’s where you as a technical person can give your best support. Our job is to improve the volunteer’s experience as a coach and the player’s experience working under a coach.”
Cerroni has been the Director of Soccer Development for the past nice years with BC Soccer. Prior to that he worked on the player development side with Soccer Canada.
“I’ve had some really good experiences at various levels and the opportunity came up to work with Adam and some other familiar faces here as well,” he said. “There is definitely a buzz from the board level as they have some ambitions and targets where they would like to see the club go, and then you have some goals for the make-up of the club.”
Cerroni will be supporting Day, focusing on coaching development and providing more formal training for the coaches.
“There is lots of change with personnel and what that brings is fresh eyes and a new vision,” he said. “We are all looking forward rather than back. There is optimism on where the club can go and what the players can achieve.”
Ocean said adding Day and Cerroni to the technical staff is a big move by the club.
“Beyond excited is an understatement,” said Ocean. “Landing Adam as a director of football is a huge accomplishment for all of South Delta let alone our organization. To then also be able to bring in Chris from BC Soccer – I had to pinch myself – is this really happening for a small-town soccer club.
“Beyond their soccer resumes, they are just great people and that’s why they have been so successful…just true professionals.”
Ocean said they are attempting to rebuild the club from the ground up.
“Realistically, this is a three-year project where we will try to bring the community together to create a best-in-class youth sport organization, not just soccer, but all sports. I think Adam and Chris see the opportunity that is here. To have a clean slate, a fresh start, energized parents, an energized community, to really create something that could be very special.”
