A self adage they like to quote in the University of Victoria athletic department is: “Once a Vike, always a Vike.”
Former UVic Vikes soccer player Larry Stefanek has taken that to heart, returning to campus as the new head coach of the Vikes. He replaces Bruce Wilson, who retired after 34 seasons of guiding the UVic team.
Stefanek played for Wilson from 1989-1992 as a fullback, earning CIS (now U Sports) all-Canadian and sa国际传媒 West conference all-star honours. Stefanek came out of Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University), where he starred two seasons for the Mariners. He is an international who represented sa国际传媒 in the 1993 World University Games in Buffalo, fittingly with Wilson as Canadian team head coach.
“I was honoured to play for Bruce and now to follow him on the Vikes bench. He was such a mentor to me,” said Stefanek.
Stefanek was head coach the last four seasons at VIU, guiding the Mariners to the Pacwest conference runner-up positions in 2019 and 2021 and a berth in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship game in 2019. He was named Pacwest coach of the year in 2019.
Stefanek replaced a national championship-winning legend at VIU in Bill Merriman and now will be doing the same at UVic as successor to Wilson, the former NASL pro who captained sa国际传媒 in the 1986 World Cup.
“Bruce [Wilson] has built a solid foundation for many years, and I’m very excited about this opportunity,” said Stefanek.
Stefanek was also an assistant coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps Upper Island Academy Centre from 2015-2018 and technical director of the Upper Island Storm.
The Vikes connections run deep with Stefanek’s son, Evan, having played five seasons as a fullback for UVic under Wilson and being sa国际传媒 West runner-up in 2016 before now completing his master’s degree in tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting. The family soccer roots run even deeper with daughter Larissa Stefanek a player for the Mariners on the VIU women’s squad.
