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Coach move adds fuel to fiery Windsor vs. Seycove rivalry

Vice principal/coach transferred from one AA soccer power to another

It's a rivalry that didn't really need any more intrigue.

The Seycove Seyhawks and Windsor Dukes senior girls soccer teams have seemingly provided enough drama on the field over the last several years, finishing first and second in the North Shore AA league in each of the past three seasons. One of the two teams has represented the North Shore at the provincial championships each year since 2008, usually stepping on top of the other to get there.

This year, however, there's a new wrinkle to the old battle. Greg Hockley was the vice principal and co-coach of the soccer team at Windsor for the past seven years. As a vice principal, however, Hockley can be moved wherever the school district pleases, and for this school year it pleased them to send Hockley down the Mount Seymour Parkway a little further, out to Seycove. With one of the Seyhawks coaches from last year stepping away from the team this season, there was an easy opening for Hockley to jump right back into the rivalry, joining the Seycove staff as co-coach along with Carl Saunders.

On Wednesday Hockley made his first trip back to Windsor as the coach of a different team. As the players continued their years-long battle for AA supremacy on the field, Hockley battled his own feelings on the sidelines.

"It was interesting," he said with a chuckle. "It did feel a little bit awkward being on the other side - I'd coached lots of home games there so it was the first time I'd coached as a visiting team."

Hockley, who taught and coached at Argyle for 10 years before becoming a vice principal at Windsor, said the Windsor kids and coaches all helped make the situation a little less awkward by stopping by to say hello to their former coconspirator.

"The rivalry is a strong one but it's also very healthy between the girls and the schools," he said. "The community is fairly tied together anyway. They play on the same community teams."

Those close ties, however, didn't stop Hockley and his Seyhawks from celebrating the 2-1 win that followed the pleasantries.

"I feel really strongly about (Windsor) doing well and I have a connection to them," he said. "(But) I'm a very competitive person. When I come into any game I want to do the best for the team that I'm working with currently. When you pit that against something that you have a history with, it is kind of awkward for sure. If there is any team that I would want to do well other than Seycove, it would be Windsor. So it's a weird experience when those two teams come together."

Seycove got goals from an unlikely pair in the win, as Grade 11 midfielder Emma Paul and Grade 11 sweeper Alex Glass - two key players normally counted on to play rock solid defence for Seycove - found the back of the net at the other end of the pitch.

Normally it's Grade 12 super striker Caitlin Millham who leads the way on offence, said Hockley. "She's a goal scorer, playmaker, offensive dynamo. She's certainly one of the keys to the team."

Other key contributors for the Seyhawks include Brittany Southam and Jaimi MacCara, two Grade 12 players who can be used all over the pitch, and Grade 10 goalie Chloe Parker. The team will need to stay in top form if they hope to maintain their early season edge over Windsor.

"They were a little bit injured - they didn't play some of their top players," Hockley said of his old squad. "Windsor has a younger team, probably more of an explosive team.. .. It's a pretty good bet that we'll be playing again and I expect that they'll be a little bit stronger the next time we play them."

Though he's still wary of Windsor's team, Hockley has a lot of confidence in his new crew. He didn't have any control over where the district plopped him, but he's happy he landed with the Seyhawks.

"This team is very strong," he said. "In a global, all-around sense, they're one of the stronger teams that I've coached in high school. It's not one star on this team, it's a number of players that will contribute. They're a very strong possession team, very good at keeping the ball, playing a nice style of soccer, playing a very mature style of soccer that Carl has worked on with them over a number of years. It's a smart, intelligent style of soccer. Some teams rely on individuals to push forward a team, this team has a number of weapons and overall strength that is very comparable to lots of the teams I've coached."

If the Seyhawks reach the heights Hockley is dreaming of, they'll have flown right past his old Dukes to get there.