Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer
In the moments after Canada's historic gold-medal win in Olympic women's soccer, Adam Day was surely receiving dozens of messages of congratulations. Responding via text from Tokyo, the CapU Blues men's team head coach managed this in reply:
OLYMPIC . GOLD . MEDALIST �(gold medal emoji)�
WoW
Day, who was hired as head coach of the Blues men's team in January of 2020, had a front-row seat to history Friday as Canada won the gold medal with a dramatic 2-1 win in penalty kicks over a higher-ranked side from Sweden. He earned a spot as an assistant coach alongside bench boss Bev Priestman with Canada's national women's team in the runup to the Tokyo Olympics.
Canada booked their spot in the championship match with an upset of the United States in the semifinals, Canada's first win over the US in 20 years. In the semis, it was midfielder Jessie Fleming's penalty kick in regulation time that was the difference and Fleming repeated her magic in the gold-medal game, scoring on a penalty after captain Christine Sinclair was taken down in the box by a Swedish defender. Fleming would score again in penalty kicks though the clinching goal came off the boot of East Vancouver's Julia Grosso.
The win is the latest and most high profile in Day's extensive career. A native of London, England, the 36-year-old has been involved in soccer in North America since he came to the University of Science and Arts in Oklahoma (USAO) as a player in 2002. He was twice named an All-American at USAO remains the school's all-time assists leader.
Following his playing career, Day immediately began coaching. He was a staff coach with England's Charlton Athletic and also worked as academy director for English football power Arsenal. Day has been a staff coach with Vancouver Whitecaps FC in both the U16 and U23 development team programs.
Day will return to the sidelines with the Blues and lead the team into the 2021 PACWEST season which begins Saturday, Sept. 18 in a home date against Vancouver Island University.
