During his time at the University of King’s College – first as a player and later as a coach – Dave Douglas wasa fixture at National Championships. He now represents UKC at the national level once again as a member of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Douglas, who guided the Blue Devils men’s soccer team to seven appearances at Nationals, wasl entered into the Hall of Fame in the Coach Category.
A six-time Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year, Douglas also earned the CCAA Coaching Excellence Award in 1999.
“His success on the field earned him the respect of his peers, players and the local soccer community," said Neil Hooper, Athletic Director at UKC. “The University is extremely proud of Dave and believes that this is a fitting tribute to him and a tremendous honour for his family.”
Douglas suited up for the Blue Devils from 1984-88 and attended CCAA Nationals in 1984, 1987 and 1988. He joined the coaching staff following his playing career and after three seasons as an assistant, Douglas was named head coach in 1992.
He demanded proper execution and preparation from his players, who quickly bought into his style.
“Dave was young but he had a coaching ability and a maturity way beyond his years,” said Hooper. “His practices were among the best I have ever seen anywhere in any sport; he was highly organized and ran drills that were simple but with purpose.”
Hooper admired the way Douglas chose to learn from the lopsided losses at Nationals early on in his coaching career.
“Most coaches would get discouraged but Dave used this to fuel his fire and his teams gained valuable experience,” said Hooper. “As time went on they became legitimate contenders, taking some powerhouse teams to the wire.”
The turning point, according to Douglas, came at the 1998 National Championship in Kamloops, BC, when all of King’s games were closely contested. The high point of the tournament for the small school of 750 students was a hard-fought match that resulted in a 3-2 loss at the hands of the eventual silver-medalists Malaspina (now Vancouver Island University).“We had worked very hard for many years to turn the program into something that could compete at the national level despite the size of the College,” said Douglas.
“The entire experience helped define the program for years to come and I believe helped other sports within the College realize that, despite our size, we could all complete on a national stage,” he said.
Following his success at King’s, Douglas accepted a coaching position with the CIAU’s Dalhousie Tigers women’s soccer team, who he guided to a national title.
In addition to his CCAA and CIAU resume, Douglas also coached minis, U13, U15, U17, U19, 1st Division Senior (Men & Women), Nova Scotia Canada Games (Men in 1997, Women in 2001) and he was a member of the Nova Scotia High Performance team for a number of years.
Douglas left coaching in 2001 and moved to Burlington, VT, to begin a career in Information Technology. He is currently the Vice President of Operations for an IT company which focuses on the Health Care market.
