NEWS photo Cindy Good

TONY WAITERS, coach of the Canadian Olympic and National
soccer teams, has been around the game all of his tife.

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OFILES
Canada’s soccer strategist

IT’S HARD to imagine Tony
Waiters doing anything that would
not involve the game of soccer. It
has always been a part of his life,
dating back to his earliest
childhood memories.

By Surj Rattan
News Reporter

And soccer continues to be the
focal point of his life. The former
Vancouver Whitecaps’ coach,
president and general manager,
and the man who took the North
American Soccer League (NASL)
team to victory in the 1979 Soccer
Bow! in New York, is currently
the coach of the two  highest-
profile teams in Canada: the Ca-
nadian Olympic and the Canadian
National tearns.

Waiters, suitably attired in a
track suit for this interview, says
that he can't remember a time
when he was not involved with
soccer in some way.

“*T would say I became involved
with soccer as soon as I could
kick a ball,’’ Waiters says.

The game was a way of life for
Waiters and the others who grew
up in South Port, England.

“That was the environment of
the United Kingdom during the
post-war years. There really
wasn’t much else to do at the
time, and obviously, soccer was
number one. You can't even
remember not kicking a soccer
ball.”

Unlike most professional soccer
players in England, Waiters had
to wait several years before he
made it 'o the big leagues.

In hindsight, Waiters says he is
thankful that he was not good

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enough to break into the profes-
sional leagues at the usual age of
1S. The extra time allowed him to
carry on with his education.

He went to college and trained
as a physical education teacher.

“I got my opportunity to play
professional soccer when I was 22.
[ think T was lucky because if
someone came along at the age of
13 and gave me a contract to play
professional soccer, it would have
been difficult for me to say no.
As a result of not being good
enough, | was able to complete
my education and | think that’s
very important because ail my
friends in professional soccer
finished the game with no ednca-
tion to fall back on.”*

Waiters started ccaching the
Whitecaps in 1977 and then
became president and general
manager of the team. He left the
Organization in 1982 to coach the
Canadian Olympic team.

Waiters says that the Whitecaps’
ability to beat the New York
Cosmos, considered then to be the
best in the NASL, had a lot to do
with cultivating strong focal fan
support for the Whitecaps.

“Things were pretty good in
1977. We had a great game
against the New York Cosmos and
we beat them 5-3 and Empire
Stadium was sold out. If you had
written a script, you could not
have written it better,'’ says
Waiters.

When people stop Waiters in
the street these days, he says that
they remember him as the coach
of the Whitecaps and not the
coach of the Canadian Olympic
and National teams.

“The team had its ups and

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THE VOICE OF NORTH AN

« NAME: Tony Waiters
© AGE: 54

¢ OCCUPATION:
Canada's Olympic and
soccer teams, owner
Waiters Worid of Soccer
© RESIDENCE: West Vancouver
e FAMILY: Wife Anne, son
Scott, daughter Victoria

® BORN: South Port, England

Coach of
National
of Tony

downs, but the years 1977, 1978
and 1979 were fairy-tale years as
far as the Whitecaps and soccer in
Vancouver were concerned. Those
were great, great years,”’ says
Waiters.

And he has no trouble at all in
picking the one moment that
stands out for him during his
years with the Whitecaps.

“There’s no doubt about that.
It was coming back to Vancouver
after having won the Soccer Bowl
in New York and coming home to
a huge reception and parade. We
didn’t anticipate the reception that
we got,’ says Waiters.

**le was a great day and we had
problems with the players over
money and contracts before the
final game. To the credit of the
players, all of those things were
put to one side and they went out
and played like a very professional
group of people. But to come
back here and get that reception
made it all worthwhile.”

Aside from his coaching duties,
Waiters is also the owner of Tony
Waiters’ World of Soccer, which
is involved with publishing a series
of baoks on how to play and
coach soccer.

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