Stephen Hart Thread

[Joe MacCarthy]

Men's National Team
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Stephen Hart Announced as Interim Head Coach
http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=2475

http://i2.tinypic.com/1zqebd2.jpg
Stephen Hart

Ottawa, Ontario – The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) today named current U-17 head coach and men’s national team assistant coach, Stephen Hart, as the interim head coach of the Canadian Men’s National Team, effective immediately through to the end of 2006.

The team has been without a head coach since Frank Yallop resigned and returned to Major League Soccer on June 7, 2006.

"I am both honoured and flattered that the Association has shown the faith in me to take over the team in the interim,” said Hart. “Obviously this is another transition period for the National Program; however, this is the nature of professional sport. “

“Our results of late have been very encouraging and as the team’s assistant, I am very familiar with both the players and what we have been trying to achieve over the last year so in many respects there will be some continuity until a permanent coach is appointed."

Hart will manage the team for the remainder of 2006 and his first game in charge of Canada will be the team’s September 4th (Labour Day) international friendly against Jamaica at the Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard in Montreal, QC. Kickoff for the match is scheduled for 4pm ET.

Canada will then fly to Kingston, Jamaica for a second match against the Reggae Boyz. That match is scheduled for October 8th.

An international friendly is currently being planned for in the fall of 2006 in Europe. Information regarding this match will be released when the details have been finalized.

Stephen Hart – Bio

On December 21, 2001, Stephen Hart was hired as Canada’s U-17 National Team head coach. Hart had been the Technical Director for Soccer Nova Scotia since 1993 and was the Director of the Atlantic Region National Training Centre in Halifax.

Holder of a CSA "A" License, Hart has been an instructor in the CSA coaching development program since 1992. His coaching experience covers a wide spectrum, having coached at the senior and youth levels, both, male and female. He has coached three Canada Games teams and several provincial teams in the last 11 years. He was an assistant coach with the Canadian Men's Under-17 Team at the 2001 CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament for the Under-17 World Championships. In 2003, Hart was a member of the U-20 National Team coaching staff that lost in the Quarterfinals of the FIFA World Youth Championships in UAE and most recently was the first assistant with the men’s national team since 2005.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Hart played for Texaco in the National Football League and the San Fernando Strikers in the local Premier League. In 1980 he was selected to the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Later that year he moved to Canada to attend St. Mary's University.

Stephen lives in Halifax with his wife Lynn and daughters Eilish, Keva and Yara.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to aussoccerfan at Vs for headsup

Fairview coach has plenty of Hart
Interim national men’s soccer team coach wants to use experience to test himself at a higher level

By Adam Richardson The Daily News
http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=8217&sc=3

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Man in charge: Stephen Hart, interim coach of Canada’s senior men’s soccer team, is originally from Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Andre Forget)

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Stephen Hart settled into Halifax after playing university soccer with the Saint Mary’s Huskies. The 46-year-old Fairview resident is coaching the under-17 boy’s soccer team and recently stepped in to coach the senior men’s team to a victory over Jamaica earlier this month. He will remain at the helm for two more friendlies this fall. He talked to The Daily News about the state of soccer in Canada, and about the possibility of a professional team in Halifax.

DN: How was the game against Jamaica?

SH: I thought it went fairly well. The staff and players wanted to have an attacking approach, and for the most part we did that. At times we might have been a bit disorganized, but overall I was pleased.

DN: Were you nervous?

SH: There are always nerves before any game. You have to show the players that you are calm on the outside

DN: When you were given the interim role, were you given any indication of how you’ll be evaluated and whether you are a candidate for the full-time position?

SH: We’ve had no real discussions about that. I believe —I can’t say for certain — that they will be looking for a new head coach in January of 2007 and that clearly my role is to coach the team over the next two games.

DN: Is it difficult to coach a team on an interim basis?

SH: It is difficult, because you are asking the players to play for a coach that might not be there in five months. But you still have to make sure the training’s right and you hope to get the best players into the game and enjoy the experience.

DN: Where is Canadian soccer headed at the World Cup level?

SH: We definitely have a good generation of players and a good mix of players, both young and old. It’s really important to be able to secure those good players and make sure they are available to play the World Cup qualifying games. We also need to build the depth of the program to a point where somebody can step in if a player is injured.

DN: Do we need to put more money into the senior men’s team?

SH: Definitely. When I travel around the CONCACAF region and see what’s being spent at the youth level and see what’s being spent on the senior men’s programs, what you put in is what you get out in terms of results. It’s not all of Canadian soccer where the funding is lacking, but the World Cup team is the one that gets your program notoriety. You have to invest in that team to ensure the success of the program as a whole.

DN: Will hosting the world under-20 men’s tournament in 2007 help that cause?

SH: Of course. Any time you get to host an event like that, people really take notice of the kind of job you do and it will help put Canadian football on the map. The public will get behind it and enjoy the level of football, and those are the players that will someday play for the senior team.

DN: As a country with several multicultural cities, does it surprise you that the program isn’t stronger?

SH: It’s not an easy conference to qualify from. The United States and Mexico have really separated themselves from the competition, and that really only leaves open one spot for the rest of the teams to play for. When you look at the length of qualification, a lot can happen over 20 games. There can be dips in form, injuries, you never know. It was disappointing we didn’t qualify for this year’s World Cup, but we got off to such a bad start at home, where you have to win your games, because it’s always unsettling playing on the road in CONCACAF.

DN: Do the sparse crowds at home for qualifying games add to the difficulties?

SH: Canadian players are most accustomed to being away from home, even if they are at home. There is no stadium that you can attract big teams to visit and there’s no intimidating place to play the game in Canada. The team moves around a lot, so you never have that sense of familiarity and comfort. At times, visiting teams know the pitch almost as well as our team. We don’t have that advantage, and that hurts our qualifying — it’s as simple as that.

DN: Will the new stadium being built for the under-20 in Toronto fill that role?

SH: It’s great that they built a stadium, but it’s going to be on artificial turf and most big clubs don’t like playing on that surface.

DN: What is your goal over these next two exhibition games?

SH: I want to see how far I can push myself and test myself at this level, and I want the players to get experience and have fun. Wins and losses are not the most important thing in those games.

DN: What will having a Major League Soccer team in Toronto mean for Canadian soccer?

SH: It’s fantastic to have that quality of soccer in Canada. We’ve had several key players come from the Montreal Impact, and this should raise the bar even higher. We need more professional soccer to give our players something to aspire to.
Young fans in this country walk around wearing Inter-Milan shirts, Manchester United shirts. You don’t see them in a Canada jersey. Hopefully this team will build that type of identity, and really get the fans to support a team in this country. Then, those young fans may grow up wanting to play football here.

DN: Do you think professional soccer would ever return to Halifax?

SH: Halifax has proven it will support the game. I remember the senior men’s provincial final used to draw almost 3,000 fans. I’m almost certain that Halifax has that potential, but we still don’t have that facility to host a professional team, or to host international games.

THE HART FILE

• Name: Stephen Hart
• Age: 46
• From: Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Hart has called Halifax home for most of his adult life. He played soccer at Saint Mary’s.
• Coaching: Hart is currently coaching the Canadian senior men’s team on an interim basis, and led the squad to a 1-0 victory over Jamaica in Montreal earlier this month. He also coaches the national under-17 boys team, and previously served as an assistant to Frank Yallop with the senior men’s team.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to aussoccerfan at Vs for headsup

Hart weighing options
Halifax coach wants better idea of the direction of the CSA
By GORDIE SUTHERLAND Sports Reporter
http://www.herald.ns.ca/Sports/9001997.html

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Canadian men's soccer team interim head coach Stephen Hart, left, watches a team practice on Sept. 2 in Montreal. Hart is unsure if he will apply for the fulltime position. January is the deadline for applications.
PETER McCABE/Staff)

The next time the Canadian senior men's soccer team takes to the field it should have a permanent head coach in place.

Stephen Hart of Halifax filled in on an interim basis after Frank Yallop left in June to lead the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, but he's unsure as to whether he'll apply for the vacant job.

Deadline for applications is the end of January.

It's one of three major positions available within the Canadian Soccer Association, including technical director and chief executive officer.

'I'd like to see where the developments are going,' Hart said when asked why he has yet to apply. 'I'd like to see what direction the CSA itself is going.'

He said he's confident he can do the job. He served as Yallop's assistant before and is also the head coach of Canada's under-17 team.

'The situation is one where I would not have taken the interim position in the first place if I didn't think I had the confidence to do it,' said Hart, who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago but has called Halifax home for more than 20 years.

Hart had the reins for Canada's home-and-away series against Jamaica and a recent road game against Hungary. The team went 1-2.

Injuries and club commitments limited Hart's access to Canada's top players for the friendly versus Hungary, a 1-0 loss on Nov. 15.

Scoring was a problem throughout the three-game set.

'What we probably lacked is a bit of killer instinct around the penalty box and a little bit of composure as well,' said Hart, a father of three. 'The chances were definitely there. 'We should have done better.'

He said he enjoyed the experience.

'You look forward to challenges like that,' said Hart, first hired by the CSA in 2001.

Colin Linford, president of the CSA, was with Hart when the team faced Jamaica in Montreal in early September and also travelled to Hungary.

He said Hart did well and noted the team's results were secondary.

'He was put there, really, to stabilize the situation, to give the players a little confidence in that it wasn't their fault Frank left,' Linford said from his home in Kitchener, Ont.

'He has done all of those things.'

Linford expects Hart will apply for the coaching job.

Linford also said that while the race is wide open there's a movement to make sure the job is filled by a Canadian.

'There's a lot of support for a Canadian coach because they understand that it's not the normal national coach position that one would have in other country, i.e., if you're in Europe you tend to go and watch a game every Saturday. We don't have that because we don't have a league as such.

'There's going to be that part of the equation that some coaches from overseas don't understand and maybe don't like.'

Canadian national team defender Ante Jazic of Bedford said Hart would be a popular choice. The two go way back. Hart coached Jazic in youth soccer.

'I spoke to a lot of the fellas and they were all impressed with Stephen's work over the Jamaican series,' Jazic, 30, said recently from Los Angeles where he played this past season with the Galaxy. 'I know, coming from the players' point of view, no one would have a problem with the selection of Stephen Hart.'

Hart and Linford agree that getting the men's team more games is a priority.

Linford said he'd like Canada to take full advantage of the 10 international breaks, allotted each season.

'Those would be 10 dates we'd be seeking opposition, whether it would be in Europe or whether it would be CONCACAF,' Linford said.

Among the other challenges is making sure players are available. The MLS, which will have a Toronto entry next season, does not recognize international breaks.

An increasing number of Canadians are signing to play in the MLS.

'They've got to work with us and we've got to work with them,' Linford said. 'Talking to the MLS has to be a priority, too.'