Andy Cameron recognized the challenge and was attracted by it. In accepting the job as head coach of the UNBC women's soccer team, he'll be pulled from Fredericton, N.B., all the way to Prince George.
Cameron, 50, was announced as the new sideline boss of the Northern Timberwolves on Tuesday. He'll bring with him more than 20 years of coaching experience at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport and provincial levels, taking over a team that is stepping up from the B.C.-based PACWEST Athletic Association to the Canada West conference of the CIS.
His task is to make UNBC's transition as successful as possible, a sizable responsibility considering the Timberwolves haven't won a game in the past two seasons. They went 0-12 in 2011 and scored just one goal along the way. In 2010, they posted a record of 0-11-1.
Cameron, head coach of the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds women's team for the past nine seasons, embraces the chance to work from the ground up with the T-wolves.
"I'm excited about it," he said Tuesday from Fredericton. "You just assess where you are and it's about building one step at a time. You get there as quickly as you can but you're realistic in building a long-term, competitive program.
"I'm confident that we'll be able to make the move from PACWEST to Canada West smoothly, and I think UNBC is an impressive campus to recruit to."
Cameron's soccer background includes head coaching positions at Newfoundland's Memorial University (women's team) and the University of Prince Edward Island (men's team). As well, he served as a technical director in Newfoundland, PEI, New Brunswick and Alberta, so he is well-connected across the country and said he will "absolutely" use that to his advantage when it comes to recruiting players into the UNBC program.
Earlier in life, Cameron attended the National Coaching Institute in Victoria. As a player, he was part of the Canadian Olympic team program in 1980-81. Prior to that, Cameron was a member of the UPEI squad for five years.
Jason Kerswill, director of athletics at UNBC, said he is thrilled to have Cameron on board.
"We had several very qualified candidates apply for the women's soccer job but his resume and cover letter went straight to the top of the pile when we read it a month or so ago now," Kerswill said. "He interviewed very well and we're very happy to have Andy as part of our team."
Kerswill likes the fact Cameron will be able to use his wide-reaching soccer network to bring players to UNBC. In that respect, Cameron is similar to Alan Alderson, who was named head coach of the male Timberwolves on April 22.
"Both of our rosters right now are very focused on Prince George and the development pathway that we have through the Prince George Youth Soccer Association and some of the club programs in town," Kerswill said. "To be successful at the CIS level, we want to make sure that we can broaden the scope of our recruiting pool and Andy definitely can help with that. We're really looking forward to seeing what he can do to flesh out that roster in the coming months."
Cameron takes over from Mato Mikic, who guided the Timberwolves in all five of their seasons in the B.C. college league. With the move to Canada West, the coaching position went from part time to full time.
Cameron's first official day on the job will be June 18 but he said he'll be scouting talent before he arrives.
Both UNBC soccer teams will start their inaugural Canada West seasons in September.
