Pacific FC Hires Richie Grant as Technical Director ofYouth Development
Grant to lead the club’s Vancouver Island Wave and Trident Development programs
Pacific FC has hired Richie Grant as Technical Director of Youth Development, to lead the club’s Vancouver Island Wave and PFC Youth Development programs.
Grant will also work directly with Pacific’s first team, BC Soccer and Canada Soccer on growing a pathway for male and female athletes from youth to the professional game. Grant joins Pacific after a brief stint as Technical Director of Bays United FC in Victoria. He previously spent 10 years with California State University Bakersfield (CSUB). There, Grant led the Road Runners to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons. The squad, reached the conference tournament six times in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and during CSUB’s inaugural Big West Season in 2021, making three appearances in the semifinals and reaching a conference title once.
At Cal State, Grant and his wife Jodi Grant coordinated and led summer residential camps with over 250 participants over multiple weeks each summer.
“We are excited to have Richie joining our team with his high level of experience that will help to further elevate our programs,” said Shawn Fiddick, Executive Director, Youth Programs, Pacific FC. “His addition ensures we have the highest level of coaching staff within all of our programs and will bring an increased level of maturity to all our programs.”
Grant’s coaching career began in his home country, the Republic of Ireland, where he worked alongside national team players at the annual Football Association of Ireland (FAI) summer camps. Grant brings his FAI-Qualified Coaching License and NSCAA Premier Coaching License to his role at Pacific.
As a player, Grant was a three-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All- American defender and was twice named the NAIA District V Player of the Year during his time at Green Mountain College in Vermont. There, Grant received his Bachelor’s Degree in Leisure Resources and Facilities Management. Grant also played one season for the Minnesota Thunder, a semi-professional team that competed in the now-defunct A-League in the United States.
Joining Grant in a leadership role will be Chris Merriman, who will move into the role of Technical Lead for the VI Wave’s boys programs. Merriman has been a VI Wave coach, and lead in the Trident program for several years, above and beyond his role as assistant coach for the first team. He will continue to coach a VI Wave team in the fall and will work directly with Grant in his role to develop programming to identify players in their pathway and continue to work with the first team on transitioning players to the professional level. Merriman will continue serving as assistant coach to Pacific FC’s first team.
Merriman takes over the lead role from former Pacific FC player Ryan McCurdy, who is moving on from the club to pursue opportunities outside of Canada.
“We wish Ryan well in his future endeavours, he has been a big part of the Pacific FC family and
development of our youth programs,” said Fiddick.