New Ottawa Fury technical director Kwesi Loney chats with a young Ottawa Fury player prior to a practice at Algonquin College.
When Kwesi Loney was introduced as technical director of the Ottawa Fury boys prospect program Jan. 1, he came one step closer to accomplishing a particularly lofty personal goal: resurrecting Canadian soccer.
"The state of soccer in this country is abysmal," Loney says. "I want to raise the profile of soccer not just here, but everywhere in Canada. This new position can help me do that."
As technical director, Loney is in charge of overseeing the program for the Fury boys between the ages of 8 and 12. That includes developing a curriculum for the program, watching over coaches, keeping up with parents and scheduling tournaments.
Loney moved into coaching seven years ago after a successful university playing career in which he captained the Carleton Ravens to an Ontario University Athletics silver medal, was selected as an All-Canadian and represented Canada at the University Games in 2003.
Starting as a youth coach with the Ottawa Fury, Loney says he didn’t have plans about going into off-the-field management, but he knew that the best way to improve the visibility of soccer in the country was to work with children and develop their skills.
Loney says he only realized how much the Fury’s development program could help him in accomplishing his goal when, four years ago, he decided to accept an offer to become the assistant coach of the Carleton Ravens.
"I saw some of the players that I coached at the youth level getting to play at the university stage," Loney says. "It was an eye-opening experience for me."
Fury owner John Pugh echoed those thoughts.
"The prospect program is the bedrock of all our programs," Pugh says. "Kids that go through it are better prepared and develop into better soccer players."
Although he considered several candidates after former technical director John Whiting stepped down from the position for family reasons, Pugh says it didn’t take him long to realize that Loney was the perfect man for the job.
He says Loney was chosen because he is a great communicator who is "particularly adept" at dealing with children.
But even more than that, Loney has proven he’s a winner.
Most significantly for the club, Loney was an integral part of the coaching staff that brought the Fury women’s team its elusive first W-League championship last season.
"He’s on a roll," Pugh says. "It was not a difficult decision to appoint Kwesi to look after the boys’ side of the prospect program."
According to Carleton Ravens head coach Sandy Mackie, the importance of the W-League championship can’t be overstated.
He says the win has helped to establish Ottawa in the soccer world. He added that a championship team has also made the Fury "well known, not just in Ottawa, but nationally. (The championship) has brought a lot of positives to soccer in the Ottawa area."
Joey Kewin, who plays for both the Fury and the Ravens, agrees.
"I thought (the hiring) was a great step in the right direction for the Ottawa Fury," Kewin says. "It all channels up once you have the great staff in place at the youth level. It translates up all through the club. It will pay off in years to come."
However, Loney isn’t ready to think about winning more championships just yet.
He says he wants to set goals for the organization on a year-by-year basis. He says that, right now, he is more concentrated on molding the program in his own image.
"I’m happy that I can apply some of the philosophies of the coaches that coached me had."
The Fury boys U-13 team will begin play in June, looking to improve on last season's fourth place finish.