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SDU staff member hired by Soccer Canada

Tsawwassen resident Stuart Neely named manager of Coach Education by national organization
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South Delta United's Head of Coach Education Stuart Neely (far left) was welcomed to the club back in 2016 by president Rich Zahn (middle) and technical director Mark Rogers. Neely is leaving the club to become Soccer Canada's manager of Coach Education.

A South Delta Soccer Club staff member has been hired by Soccer Canada.

The sport’s national organization announced Wednesday Stuart Neely as manager of Coach Education. It’s part of ongoing work to improve the delivery and implementation of updated coach education curriculum.

In his role, Neely will report to Director of Development Jason DeVos and be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the coach education system in collaboration with the Provincial and Territorial Member Associations.

“Stuart Neely brings a wealth of professional experience to this role and an understanding of the change required to ensure the successful implementation of a modern coach education program,” said deVos. “With the relationships he has built over a 20-year career in coaching, and coach development, Stuart is well-suited to being successful in this new position.”

It was late in 2016 when the Tsawwassen resident returned home to join South Delta United’s professional staff as Head Coach of Education as part of the club’s long term development plan implemented by SDU technical director Mark Rogers. 

He later became Head of Player and Coaching Developing with the Delta Coastal Selects Metro program. 

“It has been a real pleasure having someone of Stuart’s knowledge and passion support us at SDU and DCS over the past two years,” said Rogers. “We look forward to following Stuart’s coach education initiatives at the national level. 

“We wish Stuart all the best in this next chapter. He is an extremely knowledgeable and detailed soccer mind and will be a real asset to our soccer country going forward.”

A Canada Soccer A Licence coach, Neely has also been successful in roles as program manager, academy director, high performance director, and head of football development. 

His career has spanned positions with Canada Soccer, Ontario Soccer, Manitoba Soccer Association, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Toronto FC, as well as in Belgium, England, and most recently, New Zealand.

In addition to his previous role as Technical Programs Manager with Canada Soccer, he has been a Master Coach Developer on Canada Soccer Licensing programs for the past 15 years.