Simon says he likes coaching
Simon Doyle is eager to begin a new chapter in his coaching career.
The 33-year-old Oakville native has joined St. Catharines Club Roma where he will act as head coach of the U20 men’s team and also work with the League2 and League1 men’s teams as an assistant from time to time.
“Very excited,” Doyle said. “I’ve been trying to get into coaching this level of player for a while and was keen to be involved with the League1 program all together. The club has been very welcoming and the facility they have is gorgeous.
“It’s definitely all new to me and I’m excited to be part of it.”
Doyle has an extensive coaching background, beginning in 2016 as an assistant at the Oakville Soccer Club.
“I was playing in a rep league and going to Sheridan College doing IT and wanted to start coaching,” he said. “It took off from there and I made it the long-term goal of mine to get into the game at the professional level.”
Doyle then coached at the Ontario Player Development League level in both Burlington and Cambridge. He moved to St. Catharines last year with his wife and young son and found the commute to Cambridge stressful.
“It was too much time away from home,” Doyle said. “I looked at moving away from doing it full time and looked into getting into something more local and I wanted to work with older teams.”
Doyle feels he is a perfect fit for the U20 program.
“I’m looking forward working with players who are keen to playing at a high level or even pushed beyond into the professional levels we have.
“I feel working with those kind of players can elevate myself as a coach.”
Doyle, who moved to Ireland with his parents when he was seven and returned to Canada when he was 20, is enjoying working with the two other teams at Roma as well.
“I think it’s vital in any club if you are going to have multiple teams, if you want the players to progress through the teams, there has to be a large degree of familiarity,” he said. “You want them to perform their best and if they have to think about how I’m supposed to behave or we don’t do that here, that stuff gets into their head and blocks them from being their best.
“Not every coach is the same, that can’t be the case, but we do our best to make things as streamlined as possible.”
League1 coach Federico Turriziani is on the same page as Doyle.
“For a club like Roma, it’s a must. It’s very important,” he said. “We have players who will be able to play very soon on the Premier team and our future depends on the under 20.
“It’s the first step for these players and that’s why it’s important to have a good coaching staff. We are very close, we connect with each other and talk together and move forward.”
Roma Technical Director of Soccer Davide Massafra feels Doyle is a perfect fit for the U20 squad.
“Very, very happy to have a coach like Simon,” Massafra said. “That team had a very rough season last season. He’s very motivated and when I talk to the boys and the parents they express gratitude to have a coach like him and they want to work with him.
“Seeing all coaching staff we really have people who are highly motivated and high qualified and really want to do a good job.”
The U20 squad begins play the second week of May.
“I am very happy with the group we have,” Doyle said. “We have a lot of players who are very intent on improving themselves and a good bunch of kids. I want to help push them to the next level. It’s a mix of emotional approaches and my job is to bring that all together and make them feel good about themselves and have a positive experience.”
Roma’s L1 men’s team and L2 women’s squad will participate in a League1 in-season tournament Sunday.
The women’s team plays Tecumseh Soccer Club at 1 p.m. followed by the men’s game at 4 p.m. versus North Mississauga. Both games are at Brock University.
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