The Halifax Wanderers are pleased to announce the first team soccer operations staff for the upcoming Canadian Premier League season.
Head coach Patrice Gheisar has named Jed Davies as a second assistant coach. Davies will have combined roles leading the Wanderers’ first team video analysis as well as the club’s expanding youth development plans. Davies’ experience in professional football includes stops with USL teams Ottawa Fury and Miami FC, where he served as an assistant coach. Most recently, he served as head of player and coach development for the renowned Futuro Academy in Ottawa, Ont.
On top of his Wanderers first team responsibilities, Davies will also lead a group of local coaches in a planned expansion of the Wanderers’ male youth development teams from U18 to U23. The club will announce more on these programs in the coming weeks.
“Jed’s addition represents a significant investment on our behalf to improve the development pathway in our region,” Wanderers Founder and President Derek Martin said. “It remains our goal to see multiple Atlantic Canadian players earn their way onto the Wanderers’ first-team roster. We are excited to put our new technical staff to work developing our future Wanderers.”
Jan-Michael Williams returns in 2023 as the Wanderers’ goalkeeping coach. An original Wanderers player, this is Williams’ fourth season as the club’s goalkeeping coach and fifth season in Halifax. Jose Guevara will be the Wanderers team operations manager. He moves into this new role after starting in the Wanderers front office and brings experience working in team operations in his home country of Honduras.
Dr. Rob Green and Tyler Kent will lead the Wanderers’ medical team. Dr. Green returns for his fifth season as the club’s lead physician, while Kent will assume the role of lead physiotherapist.
Travis Dorsey is back as the Wanderers’ strength and conditioning coach, along with increased responsibilities as the Integrated Support Team (IST) lead. Also returning to the IST for 2023 is Melissa Allen, who enters her third season as the team nutritionist. Simon Taylor joins the Wanderers as Halifax’s new Mental Performance Coach.
“It’s been an extensive process this off-season to get the right staff in place to support the new gaffer and the team at the technical, sport science and medical levels,” sporting director Matt Fegan said. “The hard work has begun ahead of pre-season to integrate our new additions with those who have been with us for a few seasons. It’s going to take all hands on deck to reach our goals at the first team level as well as the work we recognize that must go into helping grow the grassroots game in our region.”
The Wanderers would also like to wish all the best to Danielle McNally and Dan Clark in their future endeavours. McNally started with the Wanderers in 2019 as the team’s lead physiotherapist but has taken an exciting opportunity with Rugby Canada. Clark had been the club’s high-performance and team manager. He has taken a position with Halifax Dunbrack Soccer Club.
“We talk a lot about how the CPL has created new opportunities for players in Canada, but this is also a platform for individuals in our region to pursue their professional sporting careers,” Fegan said. “We’re very appreciative of Danielle and Dan’s contributions during their time with us and delighted to see them make these next steps at the national and local athlete development level.”
Halifax Wanderers FC 2023 First Team Soccer Operations
Technical Staff
Patrice Gheisar – Head Coach
Jorden Feliciano – Assistant Coach
Jed Davies – Assistant Coach & Head of Youth Development
Jan Michael Williams – Goalkeeper Coach
Jose Guevara – Team Operations Manager
Medical
Dr. Rob Green – Lead Physician
Tyler Kent – Lead Physiotherapist
Integrated Support Team
Travis Dorsey – Strength/Conditioning coach & Integrated Support Team Lead
Melissa Allen – Nutritionist
Simon Taylor – Mental Performance Coach