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Brian Ridgway talks to his U-10 girls team following their victory over Ile Bizard on Monday. (JOHN MAHONEY/The Gazette)
With The Coach
Soccer is a family tradition
John Meagher
The Gazette
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Brian Ridgway talks to his U-10 girls team following their victory over Ile Bizard on Monday. (JOHN MAHONEY/The Gazette)
With the Coach is an occasional series featuring a conversation with a local coach.
Coach: Brian Ridgway, a 40-year-old management consultant from Dorval
Team: Dorval under-10 intercity girls
Playing experience: Senior Triple-A for Dorval United
Years coached: “On and off for 26 years.”
Best coaching tip: “Practice technique, practice technique, and if there is time left over at the end of practice, practice technique.”
Brian Ridgway grew up playing soccer in Dorval and started coaching at 14 years old.
Now he coaches his daughter’s U-10 intercity team and serves as club technical director.
Your family ties with Dorval soccer go way back .
Brian Ridgway: I have five older brothers and an older sister who all grew up in Dorval and played soccer. My father (Allan) was president of the club in the 1970s. My mother and Gerry McGlashan and Max Stern helped start girls’ soccer in Dorval in 1972 or ’73.
What was soccer like back then?
Ridgway: When I played, it was huge. Dorval was a growing community. Housing was mostly older, 1950s, lots of smaller bungalows with two or three bedrooms. But there was always three kids in every room. A lot of immigrant families. The streets were covered in kids at night, playing soccer and ball hockey.
It was much more than soccer, it was social, too. The parents would often have pot-luck dinners. In fact, past organizers of Dorval soccer still meet socially every few months for a buffet meal. They’re still very tight as a friendship group.
What made them such a tight-knit bunch?
Ridgway: It was a different time. It was the 1970s, there was no cable TV, and soccer was a way to socialize. People were working less, usually one-parent working families. These days, there is so much going on. Both parents are working, rushing to activities. There’s less time to socialize. We went through a period in the 1990s when dedication to soccer clubs and socializing declined. It became a lot more about the kids playing the game than a backdrop for social activity. But it’s coming back now.
As the club’s technical director, how can you mesh technical development with the social part of the club?
Ridgway: We’ve started a social committee to bring back that sense of ‘club.’ Last year, we ran a pot-luck party for intercity teams and an Amazing Race in Dorval, just like the TV show. We recently had a big barbecue for over 300 people.
What will a new artificial turf field mean to the club’s development?
Ridgway: Well, it’s going to be huge. We’ll be on the field much earlier in the spring and we can play on it in rainy weather. It doesn’t get burnt out.
What it’s like coaching your daughter, Chelsea?
Ridgway: It’s a great feeling. I’ve got to be careful sometimes. She’s the coach’s daughter. And you have to be careful not to put too much pressure on your daughter. But she handles it well.
What skill should be emphasized with youth soccer?
Ridgway: Comfort with the ball – that’s the building block for everything that comes after.