Behind the Bench - Miles Pinsent

The men’s soccer team has been one of UNB’s most successful athletic programs and since 2003 Miles Pinsent is due credit in leading some very strong teams each season.

Pinsent being a former UNB soccer player brings a lot of experience to the program. He discusses how important it is for a coach to look after his players off the field as well as on the field and what seven years as the Varsity Reds’ coach has done for him.

Brunswickan: What experience do you have as a soccer player yourself? Where did you play and for how long?

Miles Pinsent: I came to UNB in 1988 to study physical education on the science side of things. I then did an education degree, all the time knowing that I wanted to coach. I took all my courses related to coaching. I played for the UNB Red Shirts during my entire time spent as a student here.

B: What do you look for in a player when deciding on your roster?

MP: It’s not just the player. It is how to develop a team or a unit that is going to have some success. In order to do that we need to be very specific about what our needs are each year and going out to find players that will address those needs both short-term and long-term. Hopefully you’re looking a couple years down the road. It is not common that a rookie can come in and have a big impact in his first year. You’re also trying to figure out if they’re a good fit for the personality of the team and someone we’d like to work with for the next four or five years.

B: What is your fondest memory as a V-Red coach?

MP: The easy answer is winning the 2006 championship on Chapman Field. That was a special time. It’s easy to pick out the successful moments, but a lot of my fondest moments as a coach are working with a player on a certain thing. Addressing something that needs to be improved on and then seeing the players have success in using that in a game situation.

B: What do you do to prepare your players for a game?

MP: That is the challenge in a university season because it is so short. You have to juggle in the week’s training what things your team needs to improve upon and combine that with specific preparations to the teams you’ll be playing on the weekend.

B: Going into a season do you set a goal for yourself as a coach?

MP: We always go through an exercise as a team on what we want to accomplish in the year. As an individual coach it is more practical in that we address specific things early on that we need to be good at. We design out season around making sure we improve enough in those categories so we’re playing as well as we can in October. I guess that is my goal and what I always tell my guys. We have to use the early time to be the best team in November.

B: How do you gauge the success of your season aside from the wins and losses?

MP: We’re in the game of trying to win so they do come into play. We also look at how well we did improve, where were our shortcomings, how much did they hurt us, and how much of that could we have done differently. I’ve been in three AUS championship games in eight seasons. We won one and lost two. The two we lost the team could not have played better. We were unfortunate that we did not win, but they were as prepared as they could be.

B: Do you follow your players and ensure they’re doing great off the field aside from performing on the field?

MP: I play as big a role as I feel is needed or as big a role as, I believe, the players want me to play. I hope my players know I am there for them and over the years I helped the individuals on the teams in a number of different ways. Sometimes it is helping a young 17-year-old away from home for the first time. Sometimes it is just being there for someone to talk to. I take that role of the coaching very seriously. It is part of our roles and responsibilities. Personally, I want to be there for my guys and want them to be successful. I hope my guys see and feel that.