WAB, will the Rovers be Pentictons new feeder team?
A player with the Pinnacles last season is now the team’s head coach.
Kevin Hearn, a 34 year-old educator at Princess Margaret Secondary School, has agreed to assume the head coaching reins of the Pacific Coast Soccer League’s Penticton Pinnacles. The announcement was made at noon Tuesday at the Penticton Soccer Club.
Hearn, who came to Penticton a year ago, fills the post vacated by Ivo Jager less than two months ago. Jager resigned due to business interests.
“We had three people on the list that we looked at and we went with Kevin mainly because he is still quite involved with the team,” said Manuel Borba, a PSC director.
“He knows where we’re at and he knows the shortage of players that we have up here,” said Borba.
Borba says another key in the hiring of Hearn as head coach was his connections to the soccer scene in the Lower Mainland. “He can bring in players to help us out and – I think in the next couple of years until we get some more young guys coming through – we still have to get that help from the coast,” said Borba.
Hearn played with both the UBC soccer club and Sapperton Soccer Club in the Vancouver Premier Soccer League.
Borba and fellow directors Alex Ferreira and Ray Hintz will look after the technical and managerial side of the Pinnacles.
“Instead of having one manager we’ll spread the work around,” said Borba. “We’ll do the technical part of the game and assist Kevin whenever we can. But he will be responsible for the team, getting players and coaches. It’ll be his baby.”
The PCSL season kicks off the first week in May and the league has expanded to twelve teams from nine in 2004. The new teams are UBC, the Whitecaps Reserves and the New Westminster Khalsa. The Khalsa won the PCSL championship in 2003 but were forced to take a year’s leave of absence.
“The league might go to two divisions,” said Borba, “That has yet to be decided. Borba said the split into two divisions might be a necessity due to league scheduling.
“They have to get the league in between May 1st and the middle of August because a lot of the university players have to go back,” said Borba. “So it might be two divisions with some interlocking games.