Posted by Purple Pride on 8/8/2012, 9:57 am, in reply to "Re: Olympic soccer semi"
Yep, he really was something special. Check out this video of Christine Sinclair, talking about who has made the biggest impact in her life:
I've heard so many stories similar Christine's from so many of his former players... it's just one of those things where you can tell that everyone is truly genuine about how much he meant to them - not just as a coach, but as a person.
A fun Clive story... he was just a local high school coach when he interviewed for the head coaching job at UP in the 80s. Soccer was never a big deal on The Bluff (they just played in a quad, basically), and no one really cared about it. During his interview, he told Joe Etzel (UP' AD) that if he became head coach he would take the Pilots to the Final Four within three years. Joe just laughed, but liked his confidence and hired him. Exactly three years later, UP went 21-0 and, behind brilliant freshman keeper Kasey Keller, mowed down countless soccer powerhouses en route to UP's first final four. Pretty amazing.
He really is a (if not THE) primary source of the soccer culture in Portland, from UP leading the nation in attendance for years and years, to the huge numbers of youth soccer players (he founded FC Portland, the largest youth soccer club) and the incredible fan support for the Portland Timbers (which he played for, and whose "ultra" culture has roots in the UP student section).
And it goes even deeper than that. Because both Nike and Adidas are headquarted in Portland, there are dozens of former UP players/soccer staff working in the soccer departments of those companies. At one point a few years ago (not sure if this is still true or not), I think every person working for the Adidas North American soccer division was a Pilot.
Responses
« Back to index | View thread »