The new head coach of the Bisons women’s soccer team, Mark Colvin, has shared insights into his coaching career, his ambitions for the team and his vision for building strong identity and style of play in his first year.

“Like most other Canadians, I grew up playing so many different sports,” said Colvin, who is originally from Toronto. “Soccer was my big passion, but we always played all sports.” Colvin emphasized the role soccer has always played in his life, saying he “grew up playing competitive academy, and so it was very natural as an adult to get into coaching.”

Colvin said he had been coaching two women’s soccer programs in Sweden for the past three years. He also took courses in Scotland, obtaining his UEFA A license through the Scottish Football Association. He said that part of the benefit of getting his license in Scotland was making connections with coaches from around the world.

Colvin emphasized the value of “being able to connect, share ideas and different perspectives, because football [soccer] is played differently [and] viewed differently in different areas of the world.”

He explained his motivation to take on the Bisons coaching role. “I’m very familiar with university sport in the country, and U-Sports has always been a competition that I’m interested in, that I’m paying attention to and watching both on the men’s and the women’s sides.”

He continued, “the top players from across the country are competing against one another. And then I see myself as not just a coach, but I love the mentorship aspect of being a soccer coach […] It’s about making an impact in the lives of the people that you’re working with. And so in university, working with student athletes that are, say, 18 to 22, I think that’s a really crucial final development stage of a young person.”

Colvin said when coaching in Europe, there was a quick turnover of players, and he was sometimes only working with a player for 10 months. He reinforced “being able to work with players 18 to 22 for four or five years, that’s the time that you can build trust, you can build relationships and really make an impact on players.”

Colvin outlined his goals for the team, saying the “number one objective for us is we want to consistently be a team that makes the playoffs, which, last year, unfortunately, we weren’t in the playoffs. It’s something that this year we have the potential, we have the talent to get there. We want to be consistently representing the school in the playoffs, and then looking to push to hold ourselves to a higher standard and looking to compete and represent the prairies in Canada West in the national championships.”

He also spoke about the identity and style of play he intends to implement. “It’s all about coming up with a style of play and a team identity that fits the way I view football, but also that suits the qualities of our team. And so, in those conversations I had with the players, it’s of course getting to know the players, what they’re up to in the summer, but also what’s going to get them excited.”

Colvin looks forward to playing his first match as the players continue their preparations for the upcoming season.

“I’m super excited for that first U-Sports game. […] The big message for myself, all the leaders and the team and the players is this renewed energy, and that ultimately what brings our group together is we’re super passionate about what we do,” he shared. “All of our local players, they’ve been up training at 7 a.m., 8 a.m., both on the physical side and the soccer side, [also] all of our players are actively training and playing in leagues right now to stay sharp, preparing themselves for preseason.” Colvin noted he is “very much looking forward to that first match at the end of August.”

You can see the Bisons women’s soccer team at their first home game against Mount Royal Cougars on West Turf Field Sept. 13 at 12 p.m.

The new head coach of the Bisons women’s soccer team, Mark Colvin, has shared insights into his coaching career, his ambitions for the team and his vision for building strong identity and style of play in his first year.

“Like most other Canadians, I grew up playing so many different sports,” said Colvin, who is originally from Toronto. “Soccer was my big passion, but we always played all sports.” Colvin emphasized the role soccer has always played in his life, saying he “grew up playing competitive academy, and so it was very natural as an adult to get into coaching.”

Colvin said he had been coaching two women’s soccer programs in Sweden for the past three years. He also took courses in Scotland, obtaining his UEFA A license through the Scottish Football Association. He said that part of the benefit of getting his license in Scotland was making connections with coaches from around the world.

Colvin emphasized the value of “being able to connect, share ideas and different perspectives, because football [soccer] is played differently [and] viewed differently in different areas of the world.”

He explained his motivation to take on the Bisons coaching role. “I’m very familiar with university sport in the country, and U-Sports has always been a competition that I’m interested in, that I’m paying attention to and watching both on the men’s and the women’s sides.”

He continued, “the top players from across the country are competing against one another. And then I see myself as not just a coach, but I love the mentorship aspect of being a soccer coach […] It’s about making an impact in the lives of the people that you’re working with. And so in university, working with student athletes that are, say, 18 to 22, I think that’s a really crucial final development stage of a young person.”

Colvin said when coaching in Europe, there was a quick turnover of players, and he was sometimes only working with a player for 10 months. He reinforced “being able to work with players 18 to 22 for four or five years, that’s the time that you can build trust, you can build relationships and really make an impact on players.”

Colvin outlined his goals for the team, saying the “number one objective for us is we want to consistently be a team that makes the playoffs, which, last year, unfortunately, we weren’t in the playoffs. It’s something that this year we have the potential, we have the talent to get there. And we want to be consistently representing the school in the playoffs, and then looking to push to hold ourselves to a higher standard and looking to compete and represent the prairies in Canada West in the national championships.”

He also spoke about the identity and style of play he intends to implement. “It’s all about coming up with a style of play and a team identity that fits the way I view football, but also that suits the qualities of our team. And so in those conversations I had with the players, it’s of course getting to know the players, what they’re up to in the summer, but also what’s going to get them excited.”

Colvin looks forward to playing his first match as the players continue their preparations for the upcoming season.

“I’m super excited for that first U-Sports game. […] The big message for myself, all the leaders and the team and the players is this renewed energy, and that ultimately what brings our group together is we’re super passionate about what we do,” he shared. “All of our local players, they’ve been up training at 7 a.m., 8 a.m., both on the physical side and the soccer side, [also] all of our players are actively training and playing in leagues right now to stay sharp, preparing themselves for preseason.” Colvin noted he is “very much looking forward to that first match at the end of August.”

You can see the Bisons women’s soccer team at their first home game against Mount Royal Cougars on West Turf Field Sept. 13 at 12 p.m.