bil.png)
Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.72 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Bruce Wilson Interview |
Scope & Content |
Bruce Wilson interview, 7 February 2009. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 01:08:27. (Video one deals with his years as an athlete and video two with his years as a coach) 1 of 2: 00:13Why are you one of so few people who made it from Canada? Soccer in Canada is not the Number One sport, comes in after hockey, baseball and basketball; as the games evolves there will be more inductees to the Hall; it is a world sport and is just taking a little longer to reach Canada 02:24Childhood: grew up in Vancouver and could play from August to April where rest of Canada can only play in summer; started at age 6-7 03:44When did athletics become important in your life: at age 6, went with older brother to his first soccer practice, ended up playing with his brother which forced him to play 2 years up and to become quicker to react and learn a lot quicker because playing with older kids, father was his first coach 04:44Mentors: father introduced him to the game, played at school; while at University played with a semi-pro team the Vancouver Columbus, lots of mentors there; moved to the Whitecaps in 1974, Jimmy Easton first coach was THE mentor, first coach who gave him his chance to play at that high level 05:43Other sports: basketball, tennis, squash, baseball, never gave up the racquet sports because so good with soccer; at University concentrated on soccer 06:27When did the "I can do this" moment occur: several events fell into place, graduated as a teacher and week later had trial for both the Whitecaps and the National Team at the same time; picked for both teams on same day; his career as a pro and on the National Team started on the same day, never did teach because he concentrated on soccer 07:41Milestones: at a young age played for the Burnaby Athletic Club, very powerful team for a youth team, gave him a good feeling for the game, won 7 provincial championships 08:43What made you so good at the game: soccer is a great game, with lots of running involved, can be any size to play, the fitness level is huge; he like to run, not that large a person, asset was being left-footed, not that many left-footed players; as progressed learned to read the game well - the opponents and the game situation 10:12Talks about Steve Nash: good friends, talks about him being a cerebral player and having the same attributes in soccer - being able to read the game, reading what is going to happen before it happens for a defender is huge; more experience = more correct decisions; got better as a player as played against the best in North America and played with some of the best players 12:25Were you always a defender: played forward centre as a juvenile, was quick and could use both feet well; as moved up in senior ranks tried out at left back and the position suited him 13:28Were you a pure defender: depends upon the team, how they play, what they want you to do in terms of defending; can call him a pure defender, played often against fastest, trickiest players on the team so have to match up against players like that, relished playing against the best and learned from playing with good players 15:07Success of a defender: in the modern game defenders score more often; my strength besides defending is that I brought the ball forward from the goal keeper, one of the best at distributing the ball from the goal keeper to the strikers and crossing the ball 16:07Were you exceptionally fast then: fast and fit; holds 2 records in the North American League: most consecutive games ever played and most consecutive minutes, never subbed in 6 ½ years; loved training, loved playing, brought that to every team ever played with including the National Team, coaches expected him to pass on leadership and love of game 17:16Mechanics of the records: 161 games from 1974 to 1980, no serious injury, most concurrent minutes, started and finished every game; talks about getting the game ball at a game in Chicago when one of the records broken; an honour that has to do with your attitude, how you prepare for training, do you like to train, do you like to be there - I loved it 18:37Goes over the mechanics of the records again 19:18Were there any injuries: 1977 game hit head but continued playing 20:15On trying out for Evenden: in 1975 recommended to Evenden, went over for 8 weeks, offered contract which was a big honour but turned it down as his wife could not work in England; great experience training at that elite level 22:20National team: on team while playing as a pro, played qualifying games for Canada, had good success at both levels 22:59Highlight on the National Team: our team had success directly due to the fact that we could play in the North American Soccer League against some of the best players that ever played; that sort of experience and training you just can't get; that is the reason why Canada in 1983-84 was near the top of the world, the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles they lost the quarter final on penalty shots, great achievement playing that far and taking Brazil all the way to penalties; topped that with qualifying for the 1986 World Cup, huge achievement, the first time Canada has ever qualified, one of the finest memories ever was playing that final game in qualifying in Newfoundland against Honduras, 6000 Canadians made it feel like playing a home game, likens it to playing in Honduras which can be intimidating, biggest game ever for Canada; was team captain for 11/13 years 27:45Pro side highlights: lucky to be picked by the Whitecaps for their first ever team, coach gave him his first chance at playing pro, loved every moment of it; biggest shock being traded to Chicago in 1978, in retrospect best move ever, financially, experience-wise, dealing with different players and environment, worked out well 29:11Chicago years: fantastic; different, talks about the different stadiums, made playoffs but never won the Soccer Bowl; in 1979 traded to New York, dream come true, 13 different nationalities on the team, he was the Canadian 30:36Getting to play with and know those players was fantastic, different styles of play challenged for the coaches, talks about players, highlight of career 31:26On playing on artificial turf: half the team had artificial turf which suited him, he was fast, small and could pass/control the ball; turf is very fast and does not allow for mistakes, have to be accurate, that was part of the North American game 32:39Toronto years: traded in 1981, little disappointing to leave NY team, was a good move, had a good team and a good owner, in 1983-84 season went all the way to the Soccer Bowl, brought the team along; when the League closed in 1984 Toronto was on its way up; talks about the Canadian cities that support soccer today 34:20All-Star Teams: 1977 named to his first team, honour because the players name the team, not the media or anyone else, he was on 7 teams 35:48Other Canadians were on the team, there were 2 teams, a North American All-Star and a League All-Star; real impact was on the National Team, really developed the National Team, they were playing in a pro league 36:43About INEX: in 1984 the North American league folded; problem for both nationals teams for Canada and the USA, Toronto Company INEX picked up the team for one year, fortunate in 1984 that they made the Olympics and then could carry on into 1986 and the World Cup, was employed to do appearances and play for the next 2 years 39:03Did you ever want to play forward: really enjoyed the position he played, had a lot of freedom in that position, main purpose was leadership on the field and his ability to bring the ball up 40:01On retirement: retired after the World Cup, great way to go out, oldest player at the competition, offers from University Victoria to coach, has been there for 21 years 2 of 2: 00:12On coaching in one place for so long: greatest thing was coming back to the West Coast, not for the money; full-time coaching position, little teaching, could run the team as close to a pro set-up as possible 01:13Talks about success of teams 01:48What changes did you make: getting the mentality across to the players that we were a pro team, always keeping in mind school was first, philosophy the same today; talks about the school year 03:01What is the hope for Canada: the University League is very strong and has a very good base of players that the National programme has overlooked; results at the National level not very good due to reasons like funding, coaching, lack of pro league in Canada, student have very little opportunity outside the University 04:42Flashbacks: coaching is teaching, one of his strengths as a coach comes from his teaching background and from his pro background; highlights being about to play at the highest level in North America, being able to follow that up with the coaching position was a natural transition 05:54Talks about his wife, who also coaches and how they help each other make decisions on training and player selection 07:04Coaching style: learned from coaches he had at the pro and nationals levels, takes ideas from each coach that he liked, incorporates his own style 07:30Best Attributes: knowledge of game, discipline, liked training, keep players interested in being there, leadership quality, loved training as a player that translates into coaching, enjoys being with the players 09:02Worst attributes: at the University level coaching is not professional; "It is a professional environment and what drives me on is that the players I coach want to be there." 10:14How would the alumni describe you: what I try to bring to my coaching style is a commitment to the programme, discipline with the programme in terms of coming to training, being there on time, working as hard as you can and go by the rules 11:43On coaching different personalities on a team: go for balance, can't treat every player the same way, talks about students coming on team with no more parent involvement, in a pro environment, work as a team, challenge to fit young players in with older ones, keeping in mind that the academics come first, challenge with players graduate and new team started from the beginning 13:30"I like the players. I like their attitude.", sometimes get 2nd level players but by coaching and commitment they can become 1st level, this is a challenge he likes 14:20Put faith in yourself as a coach, hard part of the job is letting players go, rewarding part to see student come and develop over 4-5 years as an all-star in the league, that is what keeps a coach motivated 15:30Why is there a disconnect in Canada with so many kids playing soccer but few going on to a high level: more kids playing soccer that any other sport, the disconnect is at the national level where soccer is not as big as hockey or baseball, many reasons - #1 have to develop a pro league, like the one Toronto plays in, so young players have something to shoot for, a level they can attain, sees it happening in the future, right now the National Team is being picked from overseas players, in the future will be able to pick from home players 18:08How do you want to be remembered: very happy with his career, made the right decisions, very fortunate in the way things fell in place, fortunate in coaches who believed in him and allowed him to play 19:03As a coach: coaching was a natural progression, pas on what he did as a player to his University players 19:47Nickname the Ironman: many of the players he now coaches have no idea of his background, different generation, programme has success so recruiting in not that hard 20:42On Induction into the US Hall of Fame: thrilled to be inducted 21:38Was there one player that you played with or against in your pro career at astounded you: many players that have astounded me and have become good friends, best player to play against and to play for was Pele, he was handpicked by Pele to play in a World All-Star Game for Aids Research in 1988, even scored a goal 22:44What made him such a great player: instinctive, vision on field, anticipation, goal-scoring ability 23:30On the cerebral aspects: huge part of the game is the mental aspect, that is difficult to teach, such an important part of the game to have to move onto the next level 23:58On being inducted to the CSHoF: fantastic; inducted same year as Gretzky, only the second soccer player but will not be the last 24:40Discusses Gretzky and Nash as players: they have an element that other players don't have. I don't think you can teach it. 26:15Introduction to the video for the web site |
Date |
2009/02/07 |
People |
Wilson, Bruce Nash, Steve |
Search Terms |
Bruce Wilson Interview Soccer Vancouver Whitecaps Chicago Sting New York Cosmos Toronto Blizzard Canadian National Soccer Team 1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles |