The Delta Islanders have turned to Vancouver Island to bolster their front office staff after re-structuring their management and coaching team for the 2022 B.C. Junior “A” Lacrosse League season.
Nanaimo resident Dave Bremner has been hired as the team’s exclusive general manager after the role has been shared the past couple seasons by co-head coaches Andy Ogilvie and Kyle Goundrey.
Islanders president Matt Hoegg says the club was already considering to split-up the duties when Ogilvie informed him he won’t be returning next season.
“We discussed the possibility of really getting them focused on the coaching side. There is so much tied up on the GM side, with all the paper and all the background work, that it does draw away from the coaching,” explained Hoegg.
“It then became an easy choice to make when Andy said he wasn’t coming back. We then approached Kyle about putting his coaching team together and we would hire a GM to take care of the other part. We really wanted someone who would work well with Kyle and we asked him do you have anyone mind. His first choice without a doubt was Dave. It made it real simple.”
Bremner has loads of experience at the junior and senior levels of lacrosse working with Nanaimo teams. In 2019, he was named BCJALL coach-of-the-year after leading the Timbermen to a 14-7-0 record. He was slated to coach the WLA Timbermen in 2020 until the pandemic wiped out the season.
Bremner will continue to live in Nanaimo and is just a two-hour Duke Point ferry ride away from his new team.
“He will come over here for training camp and get to some games when he can, but a lot of that role is more about talent evaluation and player acquisitions,” Hoegg continued. “He doesn’t need to be at every practice and game to help us put our team together. He has deep connections all around the province as well as back east, with knowledge of players from across Canada.
“He was the only candidate we interviewed and he came fully prepared for the job. He really did his homework. We were blown away how much he knew about our team and the suggestions of how to get where we want to go, mainly the playoffs.”
The Islanders haven’t been to the post-season since 2016 when they captured the league championship and advanced to the Minto Cup for the first time in franchise history. It’s been a struggle since, despite having a solid 2000-born age group go through that twice won provincial A1 titles playing at the minor level for Delta teams.
Bremner will have a promising young core to build his team around that reached the Junior “B” tier one playoff finals last summer.
His initial duties will include preparing for the 2022 U17 Graduating Draft. Delta will have the third overall pick.
