SUBMITTED PHOTO ALLAN SIWELA
Pilani Siwela poses beside his brother Allan, who was awarded the Alberta Soccer Award of Merit for 2021 last Saturday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It’s been a big start to 2022 for Allan Siwela.
The Zimbabwe product was named the head coach of the soccer and futsal programs with the Olds College Broncos on Jan. 10. Then on Saturday, he was honoured with the Alberta Soccer Award of Merit for 2021 for his work with the Medicine Hat Soccer Association.
The 29-year-old served as coordinator of player and coach development with MHSA from 2016 until he joined the Broncos. Siwela coached the Zone 1 girls futsal team to a third-place finish at the Alberta Winter Games.
He said it’s a great honour to receive such an award from Alberta Soccer and added it was a surprise to receive the award because others in Medicine Hat, Calgary and across the province put in a lot of work as well.
“There’s only a few handed out each year so it’s great to see someone coming in from Medicine Hat and the small community, having an impact to the extent to be noticed by the province,” Siwela said. “Credit to the players that I worked with and the association that I was given an opportunity to coach.”
This was the second award from Alberta Soccer Siwela has received, as he was awarded the Physical Literacy Award in 2018.
Siwela served two different stints as the assistant soccer and futsal coach at Medicine Hat College in 2017-2018 and again in 2021. While on the Rattlers staff, Siwela helped coach the women’s squad to the 2017 and 2018 ACAC championships, winning gold while also assisting the men’s team to the top of the podium in 2017.
Before he was a coach, Siwela suited up for the Rattlers. Siwela immigrated to Canada in 2005 and from 2011-2013, Siwela starred for Medicine Hat College, racking up CCAA All- Canadian honours in 2011-12 along with being named to the ACAC All-Conference team and winning ACAC bronze. He followed up his strong freshman campaign with a solid 2012-13 season where he was honoured once again with an ACAC All-Conference nod and a bronze medal, this time in futsal.
After his first stint playing with the Rattlers, Siwela transferred to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns from 2013-15. He did return to MHC to his final year of eligibility in 2016-17.
Siwela said the opportunity to become a head coach with Olds College is something he’s been working toward for the last five years.
“I was really fortunate and happy for Olds to see the value in me as a coach and what I can offer,” Siwela said. “For them to offer me this job, to come in and work with the Broncos, it was a dream come true. To be in a space to do what I love on a daily basis and make an impact on a league that I played in but also assistant coached in was phenomenal.”
He said the move to a divisional opponent pulled at some heart strings but it was a really good opportunity.
“Coming in from being an athlete at the school, playing and coaching all the local players that attend the school,” Siwela said. “It was one of those things I had in the back of my mind that it was where I would end up but it was really awesome to have the opportunity to leave and for me, it came across as a good opportunity and something that I was really excited for. I think at the end of the day it is going to make the league stronger as well, having people that are passionate about the sport.”
Siwela is already looking forward to the Broncos’ first match in the Gas City when he can coach against his former team.
“I think it is going to be a matchup filled with excitement and filled with emotion all in one,” Siwela said. “Being able to come back here, your hometown and represent something that you’ve been really longing for is going to be an emotional thing for sure, from that side of things, but an exciting one to say the least.” He said he will have to bring some extra Broncos shirts to hand out to the fans at the college.
