UFV has had its share of success across its athletic programs, but one that rarely disappoints is its soccer squads, who routinely make the playoffs and compete with the best in the Canada West conference. The players on the men’s team are a big part of that, but it took work to get there, and the grind of introducing new players continues to be far from effortless.
Tom Lowndes, the program’s head coach, has been there for the ups and downs. The optimism regarding this season is a rollover from the positive results of last year, which saw the team move on from a tough campaign the year prior.
“I think we were happy. I thought we had a good year,” said Lowndes regarding last year’s season. “A lot of people wrote us off at the start of the year because we had a poor year the year before, and that was the first time in my time here that we haven’t made the playoffs.”
The Cascades were able to turn that around in 2018, which of course was motivating for the coach and the program.
“It was nice to prove a few people wrong and have a good run and get to the final four.”
The takeaway from last season for Lowndes was not so much a tactical adjustment, but rather a structural improvement that saw them develop as a group.
“I think it was just our overall culture and our overall belief in the group and the program that, you know, it doesn’t matter what other people think. All that matters is what we believe and what we know we can do.”
The Cascades’ success is connected to their ability to recruit talent to the soccer program, with 2019 being no different. So far, things are looking good according to Lowndes. There are 12 new recruits, and with some of the new players matching the skill level of the current Cascades, the coach has high hopes for their current season. Not only is the class good as a whole, but some will start getting minutes right away for UFV this year, signifying a very successful group.
“There will be two or three that will compete right away, and two or three of them have played minutes straight away. There will be some others that are on the fringe and some others that we know will be players by year two, year three.”
It’s not easy for players to make the jump into Canada West with success right away, due to the increase in difficulty from youth to U SPORTS soccer.
“You know, I don’t think we do a good enough job of preparing youth players to come from U18 soccer to university. It’s a big step up.”
Switching gears to this season, coach Lowndes is optimistic despite a rocky start to the season with the Cascades sitting on a score of 1-2-1.
“That opening weekend I don’t think we deserved to lose both games. I thought we were unlucky, actually, but going on the road this past weekend was tough … think we executed our game plans well; we stuck together.”
“I thought we did [stick together] and, in the end, some quality moments showed through, and we were able to get the win and hopefully take that one into a four-game homestand.”
As a coach, there is no doubt that Lowndes, much like the team, has learned and grown over his five years as head coach at UFV. He’s constantly working to improve and learn.
“I think for me now going into year five as head coach and then year seven total, it’s just ‘Can we continue to get better? Can I get better every day? Can we push the players to get better every day?’”
Lowndes also commented on his own personal growth since he’s been at UFV.
“For me, I was very intense and very gung-ho year one and year two because I was so eager to prove to myself, prove to people that I could do this, and I think I’ve mellowed that a little bit. Maybe not as much as I should,” he said with a laugh. “I think when our team’s relaxed, you have to have a culture where they want to come every day and they want to come to practice; they want to work hard.”
A big factor for Lowndes is the work he sees his players put in, which makes sense for a coach determined to get the best out of his squad.
“That’s the biggest thing for me. If I see my players out there working their socks off and working hard, battling for each other, there’s no better compliment as a coach because that means that they’ve fully bought in and they believe in what you’re trying to do. That would be the big thing for me.”
Come see the Cascades in action this upcoming weekend at home when they take on Calgary on Friday at 8:00 p.m., then versus Mount Royal on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
