Halifax Reveals Soccer Operations Staff For 2023

The Halifax Wanderers have announced their first team soccer operations staff ahead of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season, with a bit of movement occurring behind the scenes.

While it had already been revealed that new head coach Patrice Gheisar has added Jorden Feliciano while retaining goalkeeper coach Jan-Michael Williams, what was happening with the rest of the first team staff wasn’t known until today.

Gheisar will be bringing in a second assistant coach, Jed Davies, who has served an assistant with both the Ottawa Fury and Miami FC. He’ll wear a few hats out east, operating at the club’s first team video analyst while also helping expand the club’s youth development plans.

Davies – who most recently served as the head of player and coach development at Ottawa’s Futuro Academy – will also lead a group of local coaches for the planned expansion of a Wanderers male youth development programs from the U-18 to U-23 levels. More on that is expected to come later on this month.

See Also: A Deep Dive Into The Halifax Wanderers U-23 Roster

“Jed’s addition represents a significant investment on our behalf to improve the development pathway in our region,” said Wanderers President Derek Martin. “It remains our goal to see multiple Atlantic Canadian players earn their way onto the Wanderers’ first-team roster. We are excited to put our new technical staff to work developing our future Wanderers.”

Arriving from the front office is Jose Guevara, who has netted himself a promotion to first team operations manager. Already familiar with the club, he also adds experience in similar roles back in Honduras.

The club has also confirmed that Dr. Rob Green will continue on as the club’s lead physician, a role he’s occupied since the club’s inception. Tyler Kent will replace Danielle McNally as the team’s lead physiotherapist, with McNally having left for an opportunity with Rugby Canada near the end of the 2022 CPL season.

Also having left is Dan Clark, who had been Halifax’s high-performance and team manager. He’s moved on to a position with the Halifax Dunbrack Soccer Club.

The club’s strength and conditioning coach, Travis Dorsey, will return along with some increased responsibility as the Integrated Support Team lead. For the unaware, they introduced in a number of support staff last year.

Involved in that team is Melissa Allen, who returns as the team nutritionist, with Simon Taylor joining as the side’s new mental performance coach.

“It’s been an extensive process this off-season to get the right staff in place to support the new gaffer and the team at the technical, sport science and medical levels,” added Sporting Director Matt Fegan. “The hard work has begun ahead of preseason to integrate our new additions with those who have been with us for a few seasons. It’s going to take all hands on deck to reach our goals at the first team level as well as the work we recognize that must go into helping grow the grassroots game in our region.”

The Wanderers haven’t been busy with just staff building, with a number of new players arriving ahead of the 2023 CPL season, too.