Former Saint Mary's Huskies Varsity Soccer coach Roy 'Coach' Clements will be inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame (posthumously).
Coach Clements, who died in January, was the head coach of the Saint Mary’s soccer team for 22 years, winning four Atlantic titles and a national silver medal. He was twice named AUS coach of the year.
He went on to serve as president of Soccer Nova Scotia.
Clements is also a member of the Saint Mary's University Sports Hall of Fame.
This story was written shortly after his death -
The Coach has left the dressing room
February 4, 2009 (HALIFAX, NS) - The Saint Mary's University community is saddened by the passing of Roy Clements, the longest-serving soccer coach in the University's history.
Roy, known by all as "Coach," died this morning at his home in Dartmouth. He was 80.
Coach Clements was representative of an era when Saint Mary's cut its teeth on competitive sport nationally. He will always be remembered as a coach who was irascible, demanding, argumentative, and beyond all else, cared about the success of his players on an off the field. He was a players' coach.
A native of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Roy was a seasoned pioneer of the Maritime soccer scene when he arrived to coach at Saint Mary's in 1964. After guiding teams to numerous Atlantic Senior and Maritime Command Championships, he immediately made his presence felt at Saint Mary's by molding his first Huskies soccer teams into league champions in 1965 and 1966.
In total, he led the soccer Huskies to five league championships, two AUAA (now called AUS) championships and a silver medal as Eastern Canadian CIAU (now CIS) champions.
His influence on soccer in Nova Scotia extended far beyond Saint Mary's. For more than 50 years he was a valued and enthusiastic soccer administrator who played a major role in fostering the sport's popularity, success and enormous growth.
He served as the president of Soccer Nova Scotia, managed the Armed Forces League, chaired the Atlantic Universities' Soccer Conference, was a Commissioner of the Halifax Metro Soccer League and represented Nova Scotia as a delegate to the CSFA. He also initiated Junior Olympic Soccer Clinics and helped organize the Canada Games.
His commitment to Saint Mary's and the soccer community did not go unnoticed.
He was recognized as the AUAA Coach of the Year in 1978 and again in 1981, received the AUAA Board of Directors Award for Contributions to University Soccer, and received a Gold M Award from the Saint Mary's Student Association twice. He was also honoured by Soccer Nova Scotia, as well as the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth, the Nova Scotia Department of Culture, Recreation and Fitness, and Sports Nova Scotia.
He retired from full-time coaching at Saint Mary's in 1983, and continued to be a part of the University's athletics program for the next 20 years as game-day ticket manager. In this role he was responsible for all game-day events and activities for all varsity sports. Most importantly, he continued to be a well-loved and valued mentor for the men's and women's soccer coaches who succeeded him.
In 2000, he was inducted into the Saint Mary's University Sport Hall of Fame, and in 2005, was named Coach Emeritus by the University.
Photo and story courtesy of Saint Mary's Public Affairs