BURNABY, B.C. – Former Canadian national team member and Major League Soccer star Kevin Harmse has been selected as the interim head coach of the SFU men's soccer program.
 
Harmse, the team's full-time assistant since December 2014, will replace Clint Schneider, who resigned as the Red Leafs' head coach.
 
"I'm truly honoured to step into the Interim Head Coach role and grateful for the trust the university has placed in me," said Harmse. "After 11 years at SFU, Men's Soccer and its student-athletes mean a great deal to me. As we close a historic chapter in the NCAA and potential transition into U SPORTS, I look forward to providing continuity, raising our competitive standards, and positioning the program for long-term success."
 
In his role as full-time assistant coach, Harmse led responsibilities in recruiting, tactical development, training methodology, session design, scheduling and team travel. He held build the most profitable camp in the SFU Athletics environment, and the framework for it is now a department-wide model.
 
With Harmse on staff, with SFU, the Red Leafs won four Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, topping the league and making the NCAA Tournament in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2023. SFU had an eight-week run as the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II in 2018.
 

The program's overall record since Harmse's arrival on Burnaby Mountain is 106-49-20 for a winning percentage of .663. The Red Leafs went 76-29-12 (.701) in conference games. In that time, SFU had 53 All-GNAC selections as well as 20 honourable mentions, 45 All-West Region picks and 15 NCAA Division II All-America selections.
 
Adam Jones and Matteo Polisi won Div. II CCA West Region Player of the Year recognition in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
 
SFU men's soccer athletes won the following GNAC Awards five times: Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Freshman of the Year. The Red Leafs have also won the Newcomer of the Year award three times since 2015.
 
In 2017, Brandon Watson earned the conference's Scholar-Athlete of the Year honour while Mamadi Camara won the GNAC Athlete of the Year award in 2019. That same year, he was chosen by the San Jose Earthquakes in the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft. Jovan Blagojevic was drafted by Vancouver in 2015. The pair are the only SFU and GNAC players ever picked in the MLS SuperDraft.
 
Before arriving at SFU, Harmse was an Academy Coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and a talent scout with San Antonio FC, two of his former teams. He was also a volunteer coach with USPSA Power Soccer, providing an inclusive, competitive training environment for athletes with diverse disabilities, such as quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy, arthrogryposis, and cerebral palsy.
 
Harmse also offers professional playing experience from around the world.
 
Born in Johannesburg and raised in the Vancouver area, he played his first professional games as a member of Tromsø IL in 2003 at the highest level in Norway. He returned home to represent the Vancouver Whitecaps of the United Soccer Leagues for two years. After a year with FC Nitra in Slovakia, Harmse, played for MLS teams Los Angeles Galaxy (2007-08), Toronto FC (2008-09) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2011). In 2009, he helped TFC win the Canadian Championship.
 

Harmse wrapped up his playing career with San Antonio of the USL, where he competed for two seasons.
 
In international soccer, Harmse starred for the Canadian Under-20 squad that advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, before falling 2-1 in extra time to eventual finalists Spain.
 
He played for Canada's U-23 team before debuting at the senior level for Canada on March 25, 2007 against Bermuda. Harmse made nine appearances for Canada in total, which included the country's run to the semifinals of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
 
"We're thrilled for Kevin to take lead of our men's soccer program," said Breanne Watson, Director, Athletics & Business Operations at SFU. "His decade of experience at SFU, combined with his tactical acumen and career as a professional footballer make him the right person to take us into our next chapter."
 
Schneider compiled a record of 106-49-20. He is third on the program's all-time coaching wins list, behind Keith Watts (281) and Alan Koch (116), the man he succeeded in 2015 after serving as assistant coach.
 
Schneider was the GNAC co-Coach of the Year in 2016 before winning the honour outright the next two seasons.
 
"Clint has left an incredible mark on the men's soccer program at SFU," said Watson. "The accomplishments during his time on Burnaby Mountain display his unquestionable success as a coach. We wish him nothing but the best as he moves into a new role within the University."