(FREDERICTON, NB) It’s a long way from Fredericton to Taipei City. A little more than 12,000 kilometres to be exact. So, Miles Pinsent is taking a few friends along.
The head coach of the UNB Varsity Reds men’s soccer team will lead the U SPORTS entry at the 2017 Summer Universiade, in August, in Chinese Taipei.
“It’s a huge honour for me personally to lead a Canadian team into an international competition,” said Pinsent. “I have a 17-year career coaching at the University level, so it’s nice to now take this commitment to working with student-athletes to the next level.”
While the official roster for the Canadian men’s soccer team has not been announced yet, Pinsent will be accompanied by three of his Varsity Reds players; midfielder Marcus Lees, fullback Kalen Park and keeper Evan Barker.
Striker Tristan Nkoghe, who recently signed a U SPORTS Letter of Intent to join the Varsity Reds this coming season, will also be part of the team.
Long-time Varsity Reds goaltending coach George Lucas will serve as Team Leader for Team Canada.
“It will be extra special having some of my Varsity Reds players at this competition,” said Pinsent. “Evan is one of the two keepers. He showed his pedigree last year in his rookie season, and is definitely considered one of the best keepers in the country. Kalen is a tremendous athlete whose size and physicality will help defensively while his distribution and speed can help us when attacking. Marcus is a proven offensive threat who’ll be finishing an outstanding varsity career this fall.”
“I’m pleased that Miles has shown confidence in my ability to contribute to this national team,” said Park, who is preparing for his fifth and final season with the Varsity Reds.
“When I was young, I was able to walk into a stadium behind the Canadian flag for an international youth soccer tournament in Spain. That was an incredible feeling and I can only imagine how special it will be to walk into a Taipei arena representing Canada.”
The 29th Summer Universiade begins August 19th and runs through August 30th. It will feature more than 10,000 student-athletes competing in 17 sports.
Canada is one of 16 countries fielding a men’s soccer team, and finds itself in a pool with Japan, Uruguay and Malaysia.
“I know that it will be a step up,” said Barker, of the competition. “It’s provided me with motivation to train as hard as I can throughout the summer so that I’m prepared.”
Barker had an outstanding freshman season for the Varsity Reds, allowing the fewest goals in all of Canada. He was named AUS Rookie of the Year, a 1st Team AUS All-Star and a 2nd Team All-Canadian.
“I’d like to see us make it out of the group stage and into the knock-out round of the competition,” said Barker.
While he’ll employ some of the best players in Atlantic University Sport, Pinsent admits there have been some challenges with filling the roster.
“I believe that we’ve selected a team that will be competitive,” he said. “I think we have a very strong spine with quality keepers, centre backs, and centre midfielders that should ensure that we are strong defensively. We will then rely on some of our creative attacking players to generate our chances offensively.”
Like his keeper Barker, Pinsent would like to see Canada advance from its pool.
“If we can finish in the top two in our pool then we’re one second-round win away from playing for a medal.”
“I have expectations that we can do quite well,” said a hopeful Park. “They’ll be competitive matches, but I think if we play as a team and strive for excellence, with the players that Miles has chosen, we have a chance to place quite high and move past the preliminary round.”
Pinsent’s team will meet in Vancouver for a week-long training camp on August 7th. That will include an exhibition game against the UBC Thunderbirds, who won the consolation final at the 2016 U SPORTS men’s soccer championship.
They’ll depart for Taipei on August 12th. The team will continue training there and hope to add an exhibition game before the competition begins.
The Summer Universiade concludes on August 30th and the UNB contingent hopes to be home by September 1st… just one week before their Atlantic University Sport season opener.