LONDON, Ont. - Nathan McFadden, manager of athletics at Fanshawe College, announced today that Rob Pereira has been selected as the new head coach to lead the Fanshawe Falcons men's soccer program.
Pereira is not new to the Falcons community, beginning as an extremely talented player from 2003 to 2005. During that time, he was named an OCAA league all-star, a CCAA all-Canadian and Fanshawe's male athlete of the year in 2005. The following season, he began his coaching career as an associate coach of the men's soccer team at Fanshawe. He became an assistant in 2010 and will take over the head coaching role for the 2015-16 season, effective immediately. His impressive coaching resume involves having coached numerous successful club teams including FC London U21 OYSL, North London U18 OYSL and North London U14. He is also currently the technical advisor with the Southwest Optimist soccer club.
"I'm very excited for the opportunity to take over the men's soccer program at Fanshawe College," said Pereira. "I would like to congratulate Paul D'Hollander on his retirement and for the respect and quality he brought to the program for the past 15 years. I look forward to working with the athletics department and my coaching staff, as well as both current and future players to continue to propel this program forward."
"We are thrilled to be able to add someone of Rob's character and skill level to lead our men's soccer program going forward," said McFadden. "Having graduated from our program and worked as an assistant, he is someone that our student-athletes can both relate to and follow. He is a true student of coaching and is clearly ready to take this next step in his coaching career. I also want to thank Paul D'Hollander for his 15 years of coaching excellence at Fanshawe and congratulate him on all of his accomplishments. He had a strong and steadying influence on our program and we wish him and his family the best as he closes his Fanshawe coaching career."
Following the men's soccer team's final game this season, D'Hollander announced that he would be retiring from his position as head coach. He has been the head coach of the Fanshawe men's soccer program since 2000. During his tenure, D'Hollander amassed an incredible outdoor season league record of 82-32-20 and a playoff record of 11-17. He was named CCAA national coach of the year in 2008, OCAA coach of the year on two occasions (2008 and 2013), as well as the OCAA west division coach of the year in 2000. During his time as coach, he won five OCAA bronze medals and coached 30 league all-stars, five west division defensive players of the year, three west division scoring champions and three CCAA all-Canadians (including Pereira). D'Hollander was also awarded the distinguished alumni award at Fanshawe College.
Source: Fanshawe College