The legacy of a legendary blues soccer coach
Kirsten Wiltshire (she/her) // Contributor
Former Capilano Blues coach Doug Abercrombie passed away on January 2 at the age of 78. A legendary coach for the women’s soccer program in the 1990s and 2000s, Abercrombie left an indelible mark on the program, the sport and the players. Born in 1944, he called Burnaby home and it was there that he began his career. His impact on the sport of soccer in BC has been substantial. His legacy can be found in the team photos and national championship titles that line the walls of the Capilano Sportsplex, the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Abercrombie entered the world of coaching in Burnaby at the time his daughters signed up for soccer. The girls soccer program, without a coach and on the brink of folding completely, was in desperate need of a saviour – and Abercrombie stepped in to keep the program alive. The role of coach stuck, and he spent the next several years honing his leadership and coaching skills. After landing with Team BC, he acquired his first national win at the Canada Games. It was the first Canada Games women’s soccer was included in – a milestone for Abercrombie and women’s sport. In 1992, he received an Award of Merit from BC Soccer; the province’s governing body of the sport.
Abercrombie went on to spend five years as assistant coach with SFU. In 1995, he joined the Capilano College Blues women’s soccer team as head coach. At the time, the team was in transition, with only three players staying on from previous seasons, the remainder of the team being new players. Abercrombie, however, quickly established his role as a coach that could get his players to dig deep. In an interview with the North Shore News in 2010, Elyse Bouchard, a five-season veteran of the Blues during Abercrombie’s time, reflected on her career with him as a coach: “The reason that I played at Cap for so long… was because of him. He was just so inspirational and he made you really want to play and want to win.”
That first year that Abercrombie took over, they won gold at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Championships. The team went on to win four more national championship titles in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2001. In 1997, they came second.
In 2003, Abercrombie was inducted into the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame for his decades of dedication to the sport for his city and province. In 1999, the Blues program was awarded the Women’s Soccer Supremacy Award for the most successful women’s soccer program for the first quarter century of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association. Abercrombie reminisced on his first big title with the Blues in 1995 in an interview with the North Shore News in 2010: “The first one is always the nicest. The thing that I remember most is that it was so cold. It was unbelievable, minus twenty-five with the wind-chill factor.”
In the 02/03 and 03/04 seasons, he was nominated Pacwest/BCCAA Coach of the Year. Kelly Donaldson, a former Capilano Blues player, told the Merritt Herald upon her induction into the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame in 2016: “Our coach at Cap College, Doug Abercrombie, was amazing, one of my favorite human beings on earth.” Abercrombie’s impact on his players was substantial and it is what he was known for — seeing the potential in his players, on and off the field.
Bouchard, the five season veteran, went on to manage the team after her time playing. Abercrombie’s impact on her as a player was influential during her time at Capilano. She expressed her experience, and that of her fellow teammates, of his dedication to the Blues program. “He’s always very involved with his players. It wasn’t just you got to practice and that’s it. He was always there anytime you needed anything… He definitely has impacted everyone’s lives who played for him.” said Bouchard.
Abercrombie’s commitment to the sport and his team brought the women’s soccer program at Capilano into a new era of not only wins and successes on the scorecard, but of a program that prioritized hard work, teamwork and dedication. His legacy will live on in Blues history.