The Chilliwack Huskers continue their search for a new bench boss.
The team accepted the resignation letter of previous head coach Luke Acheson before Christmas, and team president Geoff Sache says they've been working hard to find a replacement.
“We had a strong applicant before Christmas who was interested in the position for a three or four year term,” he said. “We had a preliminary meeting and things were going well, but then he received an offer from a pro team in the United States that was too good of an opportunity for him to turn down. That set us back to square one, but I've been talking to another local applicant for the last few days. We will get together soon for him to check out our facilities and see what we have to offer.”
For a team coming off back to back winless seasons, Sache said there has been plenty of interest in the job. The team fielded seven or eight solid applications from across Western Canada, but the hiring process was disrupted by one major hurdle.
“For most of them the biggest determining factor was that they would have needed to find employment in order to move here,” Sache explained. “It would have been a pretty tall order for most of them to reorganize their lives to that extent just to coach junior football, especially if there are families involved.”
The Huskers hope to hire someone with some level of university experience, either as a coach or player.
“That's probably one of the biggest determining factors that we are looking for, and also they need to have been active within the last few years,” Sache elaborated. “You can take a year or two off as a coach and still be relevant, but if a coach has been on the shelf for 10 years, they wouldn't be able to step right back in and coach this level.”
Get Huskers info online at www.chilliwackhuskers.org.