UNBC's hunt for full-time soccer coaches is meeting with success.
The jobs -- one to lead the men's team and the other to guide the women's squad -- have been posted externally for about a week now and have been attracting considerable interest.
"The men's side, we've got more than 12 applications and on the women's side we've got more than six," said UNBC athletics director Jason Kerswill. "And some of those would like to be candidates for either job. So if they didn't get one, they could possibly move into the process for the other. We're fairly happy with the response that we've had so far. We've got some good candidates and the deadline is April 9 so at that time we'll begin the interview process and hopefully have coaches here in Prince George in the near future."
The Northern Timberwolves soccer teams were under the controls of Sonny Pawar (men) and Mato Mikic (women) last season. Neither Pawar nor Mikic was a full-time employee of the university. But, with the soccer program's jump from the PACWEST Athletic Association to the Canada West Universities Athletic Association for the 2012 season, full-time coaches are a requirement.
While the jobs haven't yet been filled, Kerswill said the recruiting process hasn't stalled.
"There has been some communication with recruits," he said. "There was some talent that was identified last year and earlier this year by our coaches and we're making sure to follow up on those. And by way of moving into Canada West, there will be some student-athletes that are just interested in playing that level of soccer.
"So whether we're recruiting an individual or two individuals, I think there will be a good number of players that do want to come here to play the highest level of soccer in western Canada."
Kerswill said he has no concerns about the state of the soccer program right now.
"Obviously we'd love to have coaches working here already but the process is what it is, and we'll make sure that once they do arrive here on campus, they hit the ground running," he said. "They'll still have a few months in the summer to put the teams together. We've got quite a few returning players that will have to play leadership roles, but it's a process.
"With our full-time soccer coaches in place, even though they'll be behind the eight-ball this year in terms of recruiting and having that team ready to go in September, over a two- or three-year period I think we'll see some exponential growth and some quick success."
