Brothers Martin and Steve Nash have transitioned smoothly from playing to the bench to continue their parallel paths in sports. Steve’s career has garnered the most fame and acclaim, but Martin has more than held his own amid the long shadow cast by his older brother. Both siblings came out of Victoria playing a variety of youth sports and starring on St. Michaels University School teams. Both went on to pro careers, Steve in basketball as two-time NBA MVP and Martin in soccer with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Both became internationals, Steve as an Olympian and captain of the Canadian basketball team, and Martin on the pitch as a CONCACAF Gold Cup champion with Canada who earned 38 caps.
Both are now head coaches in pro sports, Steve in the NBA with the Brooklyn Nets, and Martin in soccer with York United of the Canadian Premier League. Martin Nash has returned to the Island, where York United is holding its pre-season camp ahead of the CPL season, armed with advice from his brother and experience in his own right as former assistant coach in the CPL.
“Steve and I don’t talk about X’s and O’s and coaching itself, as much as we do about managing a group creating a team culture,” said Martin Nash, following a scrimmage game at Starlight Stadium against Pacific FC.
Nash was assistant coach to Tommy Wheeldon Jr. in Calgary with Cavalry FC for three seasons before landing the gig this off-season as the new bench boss of York United, based in the Greater Toronto Area. Annual-contender Cavalry FC, Island-based 2021-champion PFC and 2019- and 2020-champion Forge FC of Hamilton, Ont., have been the most successful franchises over the first three seasons of the CPL.
“The biggest thing I learned in Calgary was about building a team culture, which Tommy [Wheeldon Jr.] did so well,” said Nash.
“If you get the right culture, the other things will follow. You also see that here with PFC with the culture they have built over three years and what they have accomplished. It’s great to come back. I love to see what they’ve done here. It’s great for the community and great for soccer on the Island.”
Nash is moving up the Canadian coaching ranks at a pivotal moment for soccer in this country. He grew up inspired by the 1986 Canadian team, which got to the World Cup with local players from his own backyard on the Island. He later also made the national team with 38 caps and was part of its second-greatest moment to date – the CONCACAF Gold Cup championship in 2000. Now, the current national side looks to take it to another level and is on the verge of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“It’s a talented group that is very exciting to watch. They are so athletic and technical. They have a bit of everything,” said Nash.
“They are 98 percent in the World Cup already. I don’t want to jinx anything but it is a team that can cause some damage in the World Cup. They are not just going. They are going to compete. I believe they have the ability to get out of their group. This generation is really exciting. What’s happening in this sport at all levels is brilliant and we’re heading in the right direction.”
A big part of that move in the proper direction was the establishment of the CPL in 2019 to give Canada a true domestic pro soccer league. Canada had been the only developed nation to lack one (Whitecaps, Toronto FC and CF Montreal play as “guest” clubs in MLS, which is the official U.S. domestic pro league).
“The coming of the CPL was fantastic for the sport in this country,” said Nash, who had to leave at the beginning of his pro career to England.
“Now, instead of having to leave, you can stay at home in your own backyard in Canada and have a professional environment to play in and develop. A lot more Canadian players are getting that opportunity now in the CPL. There were a lot of Canadian players who never had this opportunity before, or who never got lucky when they went away to Europe on trials. This league is massive for the growth of soccer in this country. Players have now have gone from the CPL to MLS [including PFC products Lukas MacNaughton and Kadin Chung to Toronto FC] and that’s great for our league and for Canadian soccer.”
