A local soccer coach has announced that he is stepping away from the pitch.
Sean Carey, head soccer and futsal coach of both the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks men’s and women’s teams, is retiring as the winningest soccer and futsal coach in the post-secondary’s history. In just over a decade with the Kodiaks, with stints from 2009 to 2011 and 2017 to 2025, Carey built an impressive list of accomplishments:
- He won 91 regular season soccer games and 37 regular season futsal games;
- He is a four-time ACAC women’s coach of the year winner;
- He is a two-time men’s ACAC coach of the year, and one-time CCAA men’s coach of the year;
- He has coached 18 women’s all-conference players;
- He has coached 17 men’s all-conference players;
- He has coached one men’s All-Canadian and one women’s All-Canadian;
- He has coached one CCAA/ACAC player of the year (Ben Knight) and two CCAA All-Canadians (Ben Knight, Christine Moser); and
- He averaged six student-athletes a year to be recognized with All Conference & National Academic honours.
In 2019, Carey guided the men’s soccer team to an ACAC gold medal, which led to the team travelling to Oshawa, Ontario to compete in the CCAA Nationals. Carey’s 2023-24 women’s team captured its first regular season crown and its best regular season record (11-1) since the program’s debut year in 1994.
“I’ve had the privilege to coach some amazing athletes and people who have left it all out there on the field for me,” says Carey.
“I’ve generated some excellent relationships along the way with players, staff, and opposing coaches that I will treasure moving forward.”
Todd Caughlin, Kodiaks Athletics and Recreation Services Director, says Carey and his staff committed to building “a perennial conference champion contender” for both the women’s and men’s programs.
“It takes a person that is dedicated and has a genuine concern for the well-being of their student-athletes year in and out, and Sean and the rest of the Kodiaks coaching staff [shows] that every year,” Caughlin says. “I wish Sean the best and I know he will enjoy his additional time with his family, farm and business.”
Carey plans to use his time away from the pitch working on his main career as a carpenter and travelling as much as he can.
