Arrived from France to study at the University of Montreal, the current head coach of the FC Laval had joined the team of that same university. He also played in senior AAA, which was the highest level in the province at the time.

His strong performance on the field earned him the title of Canadian University Player of the Year. Later, he joined the Trois-Rivières Attak, the defunct Montreal Impact (CF Montreal) academy club, with which he was crowned Canadian Soccer League champion in the role of captain.

He then retired to start his career on the sidelines, becoming assistant coach with the University of Montreal Carabins.

Local Development

Shortly after his start in coaching, Coulibaly was approached by Marinos Papageorgopoulos, current manager of the CF Montreal Academy, who managed the former club of Chomedey. This was part of the merger leading FC Laval’s creation.

“He brought me to work with the 2002–03 group,” Coulibaly explained.”I had the chance to work as I wanted, and to have complete trust in what I was doing. We took our time.”

He admits the results weren’t always there at first.

“Results weren’t fantastic, but the youngsters have to learn how to lose games,” he said. “It’s necessary, and it pays off when you’re taking the time, and let young athletes develop.”

That age group’s also an integral part of the title won this summer by the FC Laval, in the men’s section of the Première ligue de soccer du Québec.

“They’re young people with whom I have had the chance to work since they were 11 or 12 years old,

“These are young people with whom I have had the chance to work since they were 11 or 12 years old,” Coulibaly said. “If we’re looking at the reserve team, they’re second in their league. They’re young athletes who are extremely solid mentally, and it turned out as we hoped.”

Collaboration

In addition to working with the younger players, Coulibaly continued to coach with the Carabins for a few seasons, winning two university championships.

It allowed him to rub shoulders with certain players, such as Wandrille Lefebvre, who is part of the champion edition of the FC Laval.

He is now 100 per cent focused on the performance of Laval’s team, while continuing his work with the Carabins. He believes the success of his project is linked to his collaboration with the players.

“I know I wasn’t always easy to manage as a player, because I had in mind what I wanted to do,” he admitted, laughing. “Today, it reflects on my way of coaching. The players want to be in charge of the project in the same way as the coaches. That’s the vision that I try to put in place by including everyone in the process.”

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Boubacar Coulibaly: The Man Behind FC Laval’s Success est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

That foundation, Le BUT, is mostly an idea of Pierre Gendron, director of operations and president of Sports Rousseau – Groupe Gendron 3.0, and his colleagues.

The goal of the foundation is quite simple, as there’s no membership needed like some other foundations.

People wanting to help young people who can’t afford to buy equipment and play hockey can go to a Sports Rousseau store and drop off their hockey items in a red box identified in this regard, as explained in a press release.

Gendron was visibly moved by the official launch of the foundation. A video about him, showing clips of him younger, playing hockey and sharing beautiful moments with his loved ones, was also shown on a screen at the start of the conference.

“Like we saw in the video, it’s because of my mom and my love for hockey that I’m here today,” Gendron said. “My mom’s no longer with us now, but I want to thank her. She gave me everything. She made sure I didn’t notice anything. We weren’t rich, but I never noticed that. She worked very hard, had to do a lot for my registrations and often found me someone to drop me off and pick me up at games and practices.”

Joël Bouchard, former head coach of many junior and professional hockey teams, in addition to having had other important roles in the domain, concluded the press conference nicely.

“It’s now our job to help those young people,” said Bouchard. “When this press conference is over, I will go shopping and buy some items to put in the box. Today, I am a lucky man to be here and to be able to give back. The simple fact of that I know the equipment I’m going to buy will end up somewhere in Quebec, and help a young person to have an extraordinary experience, as we’ve had, us here, that gives me chills.”

L’article New Foundation to Help Young People Play Hockey est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.