Rattlers new soccer coach excited for first season

By JAMES TUBB on September 10, 2022.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

Sam Heap is a big fan of the Medicine Hat College Rattler yellow, even though it looks more like gold to him.

“I love the yellow, the one I couldn’t get my head around was the black and yellow especially when you play in the temperatures you guys play in down here, wearing a full black kit when it’s 30 degrees, I thought it was a bit strange, but I do like the black and yellow,” Heap said. “It’s more of a gold, I kind of like it. Maybe a bit of fate for the future, we’re playing in gold and we’re looking for gold.”

Heap joined the Rattlers in mid-July when he was hired by the college and Medicine Hat Soccer Association as the coach of the Rattlers soccer and futsal program.

Heap, who is working alongside Rattlers associate coach Damir Omerovic, previously coached with the Vancouver Whitecaps for seven years with roles in Cranbrook, B.C. and Lethbridge. He also spent time back home in England working with Blackburn Rovers Football Club as their regional talent manager.

He said he’s enjoyed working with both the men’s and women’s soccer teams as they gear up for their seasons.

“This year is going to be a bit about finding our identity. We want to be moving forward as a group and as a college, how we want to represent ourselves on the field, the style of football we want to play,” Heap said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we deliver. I think it’s the first step in a long journey. They’ve been working hard on the practice field, they’ve bought into what me and Damir have been kind of coaching and preaching. I’m looking forward to seeing them in action on Sunday.”

Both the men’s and women’s Rattlers get their regular ACAC seasons under Sunday when they head to Lethbridge to take on the Kodiaks.

As the Rattlers search for their identities, Heap says he knows they will be hard working and sweating a lot when the match ends.

“There’s teams that want to play the ball around, we’re not quite there yet with our locker room in regards to player ability, we’re a little bit lower than that. So we have to find all the ways to make ourself competitive and how we’re going to grind out results,” Heap said. “The one thing from myself and Dimir that is a non negotiable is, we’ve got to be relentless. We have to work hard, and we have to have sweat on the shirt. So the minimum standard is, you can come off that field whether you win or lose and you’d be proud of your performance just for your effort.”

Heap is also looking forward to his role with the MHSA as their technical director and help further build and guide soccer in Medicine Hat.

“I’ve worked with similar associations in the past back in the Kootenays, Cranbrook and Lethbridge and I tend to see that over a few years now, I can help improve playing philosophy, coaching standards, on-field playing standards,” Heap said. “It takes time, it’s not something that happens overnight. But for me, that’s the greatest challenge of being a technical director is the long-term vision rather than the short term. So I’m really looking forward to getting to know the players.”

He said he wouldn’t have been able to have as quick and as strong a start with the Rattlers had it not been for the work of Omerovic, who he can’t wait to keep working alongside.

“Both the men’s and the women’s wouldn’t be running without the work he did since the previous coach left,” Heap said. “It’s all good me head coaching but Damir being around and the work he did to create our squads is incredible. Like an agent, he is always on the phone to players and it’s great to have someone who has such a foothold in the local soccer community working with me and kind of helping me understand the picture a little bit better.”

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