Paul Ballard became head coach of the Bishop’s Gaiters women’s soccer team in 2016.
The Port Coquitlam, B.C. native started playing soccer at the age of four. By the time he was in first grade he declared he wanted to be a professional soccer player. Years later he attained that dream.
His soccer talent was evident at a young age and he was identified playing for the Metro-Ford Club in B.C. At age 13 he earned an invite to England with a Canadian Academy that was run by Manchester City F.C.
After receiving a number of college offers, Ballard attended Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C.; an institution both his father and uncle had attended.
Ballard played for the Spartans for five seasons. He was named a Canada West all-star four times, an all-Canadian twice and the school’s “Complete Champion” (Athlete of the Year) twice. While suiting up for TWU he also was a member of the Canadian National U-20 team and the Vancouver Whitecaps Reserve Team.
Ballard graduated in 2006 from Trinity Western with a Bachelor of Human Kinetics. He then completed his Masters of Arts and Leadership at TWU in 2017.
Despite tearing his ACL in his senior year, Ballard through family encouragement chose to pursue his dream of playing professional soccer. He joined Athletes in Action and travelled the world while playing pro and semi-pro. His journey saw stops in South Africa for two years, Cleveland, Ohio for a season and finally Northern Ireland for two years. While playing, he suffered two more knee injuries. It was during his rehab that Ballard started working towards his coaching badges.
Once he retired from playing soccer he returned to B.C. to work with Athletes in Action and coach. He was an assistant with the TWU men’s program for four years and a staff coach for Langley United and Metro-Ford during that time before moving onto Bishop’s.
Ballard is currently completing his UEFA ‘A’ Coaching License, a goal he plans to achieve before the end of 2017.
He currently lives in North Hatley, Que. with wife Roslynn and three daughters Sienna, Ameila and Evangeline.
