In five years at the helm of the University of the Fraser Valley women’s soccer program, head coach Rob Giesbrecht has overseen an unprecedented run of success, highlighted by two CIS national championship tournament appearances.
Giesbrecht, born and raised in Abbotsford, B.C., played soccer at Trinity Western University (TWU) from 1991 to 1995 while earning his Bachelor of Arts degree.
At the conclusion of his playing career, he earned a second undergraduate degree in Education from the University of British Columbia (1998) and a Master’s degree in Education from Concordia University (Seward, Nebraska) in 2008. He has also completed a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) National Diploma.
Giesbrecht began his university coaching career at TWU, where he served as women’s soccer assistant coach and was part of the program’s first CIS national championship in 2004.
He was head coach of the women’s soccer team at Concordia for five years (2005-2010) before returning to Abbotsford to take the reins of his hometown Cascades.
In his first season, 2010, Giesbrecht steered the squad to the Canada West title and a bronze medal at the CIS national championship. It was UFV’s first national medal in any sport at the CIS level. He guided the team back to nationals in 2014, following a silver-medal performance in the Canada West playoffs with a fourth-place finish at the CIS tournament in Quebec City.
Rob and his wife Cheryl and their four children reside in Yarrow, B.C.
