Wolves ready to tackle League2
Rob Lalama is set for a new challenge at Club Roma this season.
The 61-year-old Welland native will take over Roma’s League2 team this season after the organization reorganized their women’s program for 2023, dropping the League1 squad.
“I’m still coaching the reserve team, nothing’s changed in my mind,” Lalama said. “I think what has changed is they renamed it League2 Reserve open where last year it was League1 Reserve open age so it’s just semantics.
“For me, I don’t think much has changed. It’s still the target audience for me and it aligns better with my college team at Niagara.”
Lalama, who has coached the women’s team at Niagara College since 2017 after a year with the men’s team, has his roster pretty much set for the upcoming season which begins with a Cup game versus Windsor Tecumseh on Sunday, April 21 at Brock University. The League2 regular season home games will be played Tuesday or Friday nights at Club Roma beginning in May.
“We’re very close,” Lalama said. “Players are still coming. We have some good young players and some good veterans. I have some older players and some players who have graduated from the OPDL (Ontario Player Development League) system turning 18 and some 20-something players as well. It’s a good mix.”
Lalama, who plans to carry 20-22 players, feels it is crucial to define the team before placing any expectations on the group.
“I think we’re going to look at the team and we’re going to be realistic. We’ll look at roster when the season starts and see if we have a chance to be very competitive and maybe do very well, then that will dictate what our goal is,” he said. “It needs to be a realistic goal. You can’t take a young team with not a lot of experience and say we’re going to win the league.
“If some of these veterans come back to lead us with another group of very talented young players who are really going to learn and excel, maybe with that mix, we’ll evaluate and maybe have a mix to be very competitive. It’s hard to tell, hard to say. Ultimately, you don’t know until you get there and we really don’t know what kind of team we’re going to have.”
The best case scenario would be for the team to do well enough to be promoted to the Champions Division in League1.
Roma Technical Director Davide Massafra feels Lalama is a perfect fit for the club.
“Having Rob Lalama as part of our League1 coaching staff is extremely exciting. Despite the challenges we faced throughout the first season, he accomplished a lot with several players who are looking forward to returning to the pitch,” Massafra said. “After some careful consideration, we have decided to restart our women’s program with young and local talented players. Having Rob as lead coach allows our club to move towards a bright future.”
Lalama will also work with the High Performance Youth Program with HP director Emanuele Piombarolo. Together with the League1 coaching staff, they contribute to the players’ training on a consistent basis.
Massafra appreciates Lalama’s zeal for the game.
“Rob is a great person and amazing coach. He brings so much enthusiasm to the game and I always admire his ability to bring smiles and happiness to all players during his practices. The girls love his style of coaching, and Giulia Smyth, his assistant coach, helps him to create a very positive, fun, and safe training environment among our female players.”
Lalama, who began his coaching career at 14, still enjoys the position.
“If I didn’t I wouldn’t do it. I can be having an uneventful day and all of a sudden you come to the soccer pitch and there’s a big smile on your face. It still makes me smile.”
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