Priestman wants Canada to aim higher
New coach takes over national team after stint as England’s No. 2
Bev Priestman, Canada’s new women’s soccer coach, is looking for bravery on and off the field.
Done right, she believes it will allow the eighth-ranked Canada women to move up the podium after winning back-to-back bronzes at the Olympics.
“We definitely need to change the colour of the medal,” said Priestman, a former assistant to coach John Herdman, who switched from the Canadian women to men in January 2018. “I think two bronze is unbelievable and it’s a fantastic achievement and credit to John, the staff, the players that have achieved that.
“To keep moving forward, we have to aim higher than that.”
Priestman, who was introduced Wednesday as the successor to Kenneth HeinerMoller, starts Sunday with a contract that covers the next quadrennial.
At 34, the English native is three years younger than captain Christine Sinclair, the sport’s all-time scoring leader. But she has an extensive resumé, with ties to Canada.
From 2013 to 2018, Priestman developed talent for the Canadian women’s program and served as an assistant coach under Herdman, whom she had also worked with in New Zealand. Two years ago, just nine months after her son Jack was born, she left a “great job” with Canada Soccer to “take a bit of a risk” and return home to serve as Phil Neville’s No. 2 with the English women’s team.
She wanted to forge her own path.
“When I went to England, I always said from day one that I wanted to be a No. 1,” she told The Canadian Press. “And so this is part of that jigsaw piece.
“For me, it’s a top-10 nation, two bronze medals, the scrutiny and expectations you get with that. What I’ve learned about myself is probably you get the best out of me in those moments.”
Priestman isn’t sure when she will be able to get her new team together. A Canadian camp scheduled for this month in England was scrapped on the advice of health experts.
But she has a message for the Canadian women, saying she has crystalized her own philosophy over the last two years.
“On the pitch, I would ask the players to be brave … I want to dominate, with and without the ball.”
That might mean putting their bodies on the line, looking to pass upfield rather than a safer option behind or to the side: “Teams that do great things and have great players are brave,” she said.
For her staff, it might mean skipping a training session during the congested Olympic or World Cup schedule.
Priestman is the product of a worldwide search, undergoing three interviews to succeed Heiner-Molle r, who announced in June he was stepping down at summer’s end to return to the Danish association as head of coach education.
“We’re a leader in the women’s game internationally, so this appointment is of the highest importance to Canada Soccer,” said Canada Soccer president Steven Reed.