Veteran RDC Queens soccer coach ready to retire
When Jerry Gerling took over as RDC Queens soccer coach in 1993 he didn’t expect to be around long.
“I thought I’d do three, or four, or five years and then pull away,” he said.
Seventeen years later he decided to retire.
“(RDC director of athletics) Al Ferchuk seemed to make it more attractive as the years went by and Cor Ouwerkerk helped me a lot in how to coach women,” he added.
Gerling, who took a sabbatical this past season, announced his official retirement this week, bringing an end to a run that saw the Queens development into a highly respected program.
Over Gerling’s final nine years the Queens were consistently in the playoffs with some of the top talent in the league.
“We had four All-Canadians over the last nine years and I’m very proud of that,” he said. “I’m also very proud of the fact we had two academic All-Canadians one year.”
Gerling got into coaching in 1978 and it wasn’t until he took over the RDC program that he coached women.
“I was a soccer player and nothing but prior to ‘78, but a group of boys asked me to coach as they wanted to get together,” he explained. “So until I went to the college I only coached boys and I admit I had limited knowledge of coaching. I knew some of the technical aspects, but I didn’t know how to put it all together. But the college paid for me to get my level II and level III certificates and that helped me develop.”
The Queens struggled over the first few seasons, until about year seven when the likes of Irma Hernandez joined the program.
“There were three things that happened that year,” Gerling said. “I was becoming more comfortable in recruiting. We got three players from out of town, plus four very good players from Red Deer, including Irma, who was our first All-Canadian.
“What also happened was we lost that losing mentality. That’s something that’s easy to keep year after year when the players overlap. But that year we had seven new players and they brought a different mentality in.”
Then in 2002 the Queens added such players as Claire Thomas, who is to be one of the top scorers in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference history, and defender Michelle Mueller of Rimbey
“We already had that winning attitude and they reinforced it that much more,” said Gerling. “That team was one of the best we ever had.”
Overall Gerling posted a 65-82-18 record and won a pair of bronze medals. He was awarded the ACAC coach of the year three times and has coached over 250 athletes.
Being away last year helped Gerling realize he could step away from the program.
“I coached the alumni during the summer and when September and October came around it was a bit strange as over the previous 17 years every weekend was taken up by soccer and suddenly that wasn’t the case,” he said. “But I found I had yard work to do or I could take a vacation with my wife, so I didn’t miss it as much as I thought. In fact I didn’t even look at the team stats until about half-way through the season and wasn’t curious about who made the team until I saw Davey (Colley) later in the season.
“But I could see myself missing it two or three years down the road,” he added. “I also won’t miss the administration side of it, but I will miss the individuals I met and the friends I made. There were a lot of very good people at the college, who helped me a lot. It was a very good environment to coach in.”
However, he won’t be that far away as he’ll continue to coach the RDC Alumni.
“I’m still in touch with the older players as they mature, but I will miss the new characters, the new personalities and new dramas that there were every year.”
Colley coached the Queens last season with Katrina Loiselle as assistant coach.
“Having Davey take over is important to me and with Kat there as well,” said Gerling. “Davey has been with me for several years and Kat is someone who believes in the program. She played and now is a coach.”
Colley will be in the running to return this season, according to RDC athletic director Keith Hansen.
“We’ll put the position out there in the next week or so and hopefully Dave applies,” said Hansen. “If he does and gets it then we know we have the right person.”
• The hockey Queens face NAIT in a home-and-home series this weekend — Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Arena and Friday at NAIT.
• The basketball squads have an important doubleheader against Lethbridge at RDC. The women tip off Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. with the men to follow. The Queens are in a battle with Lethbridge for a playoff spot and need to sweep the series to move up.
• The volleyball teams are on the road as they visit Briercrest Bible College Friday and Saturday. The Kings can move into first place with a sweep as they go in one game back of the Clippers.
• The curling teams are at the Winter Regionals in Olds Friday to Sunday.
• Chantal Froehler of the hockey Queens was named the Boston Pizza RDC female athlete of the week while volleyball Kings setter Nick Bell took the top male award.
drode@reddeeradvocate.com
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