BurnabyFChires2newcoaches

Kim Bull and KatTomic bring extensive experience to the team

AbhinayaNatesh anatesh@burnabynow com

Burnaby Football Club is welcoming two new female senior staff coaches.

Kim Bull has been hired as female football and character development coach, and KatTomic is girls’ and women’s U21 head coach

Bull andTomic will continue their roles at Mountain United FC and Cliff Avenue Football Club until the football club is fully integrated in June and begins play in the 2023-24 season, Burnaby FC said in a release

Burnaby FC’s executive director, Morgan Quarry, said the hirings come as a way for the club to show its commitment to player wellness, charac- ter development and the importance of encouraging girls and women to get involved and stay in the sport.

“Kim and Kat share our belief in the necessity of having a clear understanding of our players’ needs and motivations to ensure they not only enjoy their soccer experiences but develop and improve as well,” Quarry said Bull, who holds a Canadian Soccer Association children’s licence, a provincial B licence and a goalkeeper diploma, is a trained learning facilitator for the BC Soccer Association and coaching mentor with the National Coaching Certification Program

Her playing career began with a successful run as a goalkeeper at the

University of FraserValley, where she completed a kinesiology degree before pursuing coaching and leadership opportunities She held various roles for organizations including the B.C. provincial program,Vancouver Whitecaps Elite/ REX and post-secondary institutions such as UBC-Okanagan and Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where she helped lead the team to consecutive national championship tournaments

Tomic began playing soccer under her father’s coaching when she was just three years old. Her strong game was rooted in her family with her parents’ and older brother’s involvement in the game Tomic belonged to the