I OCTOBER 31. 2002

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PAGES 26-29 I

NV coaches nominated
Doug Abercrombie and Tine Moberg-Parker among finalists for 3M Coaching Awards.

TWO OF A KIND - Cap Blues women's soccer c~ach Doug Abercrombie and national team sailing coach Tine Moberg-Parker are
among five B.C. coaches who have been named as finalists for the 3M Coaching Canada Award.

By JUSTIN BEDDALL
Staff Reporter

When Capilano Blues women's soccer coach Doug
Abercrombie was named one of the five finalists for the prestigious 3M Coaching Canada Awards, he picked up the phone
and dialed up his daughter, Amy.
"I blamed her," joked Abercrombie, who started his sideline
soccer career 23 years ago when his daughter's team needed a
coach. "She was tugging at my sleeve asking me to coach, and
I've been doing it ever since."
Since then, Abercrombie's highly-successful soccer resume
includes coaching at the community level (gold at the 1993
Canada Games and six provincial U-11 to U-16 champi-

onships), a five-year stint as an assistant coach with the SFU's
women's team and, most recently; coaching the Capilano Blue's
· to soccer glory.
Abercrombie, 58, has put the Blues women's soccer program
on the national map since joining the school in 1995, winning
five national and six provincial women's soccer titles in the past
eight seasons. During the past seven years, the club has produced 25 BCCAA all-stars and 13 CCAA all-stars.
·
In April 2001, Abercrombie was selected by the community
as the North Shore Coach of the Year; his Blues team was also
selected North Shore team of the year. Abercrombie was recently named the 2002 BCCAA coach of the year.
This past weekend, Abercrombie's Blues' quest for a nation-

al championship "three-peat" was deflated during a semi-final
match versus Cariboo College, during a penalty kick shootout.
The Blues settled for a bronze medal with a 2-1 victory over
Fraser Valley. "Overall for the program it's not a bad result," he
said, "but it's a little disappointing for the players and me."
Abercrombie says the loss may have something to do with
"The Curse." For the past eight years, the BCCAA coach-of-theyear has failed to advance to the nationals, he joked.
Despite his tremendous soccer success, Abercrombie, is
decidedly modest, preferring to attribute his good fortune to the
local soccer environment. "There's a really good feeder system
on the North Shore and in Burnaby. It makes a huge difference."
Still, Abercrombie's record as the bench boss at Cap is
unequalled. "He's been outstanding. I don't think there's another coach in the league that's had the same impressive results the
last eight years. He's not only a good coach at this level; he's
also an exceptional coach at the communi ty level. He's developed so many good young players over the past 20 years," said
Cap College athletic director Joe Iacobellis.
And While Abercrombie has been busy developing young
soccer players, Tine Moberg-Parker has been developing athletes in rougher waters.
Moberg-Parker, who began sailing at age six in her native
Norway; moved to Canada in her teens and attended Sentinel
high school in West Van. In 1990 she began as sailing instructor
at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, but still managed to find the
time to remain competitive.
In 1991 she won the women's world sailing championships
in Los Angles and was No.I-ranked in the world from 1989-91;
in 1994 she sailed for Canada at the world championships and
Goodwill Games, finishing second and third, respectively.
Despite a nagging shoulder injury, Moberg-Parker finished
13th overall at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.
Still, it's working with young sailors that gives her the greatest satisfaction. "I want to give these kids the best opportunity
they can have to compete," explained the North Shore resident.
The Level 3 certified coach is currently a national team coach
at the Canadian Sports Centre Vancouver and has trained more
than 1,000 sailors, from young children to racing teams.
And the sailing coach, who has her young sailors training in
a Norwegian tradition in the winter - cross-country skiing has already enabled some young sailors to catch some championship winds.
At the 2002 youth sailing world championship one of her
sailors, Jennifer Spalding, 17, won the title, marking the first
time in history a Canadian finished first. Another one of her
sailors, Mark Pataky, 14, is a three-time champ, currently ranked
No.l in Canada. "It's a thrill to see how far those kids can go."
The winners of the 3M Coaching Awards will be announced
at the Sports Leadership Awards Dinner in Montreal on
November 2.@