Separation from family too much, says Colin Miller

After one season on the job, Colin Miller has resigned as Highlanders head coach to rejoin his family in Abbotsford.

“It’s not an easy decision. It has absolutely nothing to do with the football side of things,” Miller said. “It’s a family decision.”

Miller, 44, had been commuting between Victoria and his home for the past 15 months and had been primarily in Victoria and on the road with the team for the past four months. That’s been hard on his wife and two kids, a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter, he said.

“It’s a difficult age to be away for such a long time,” Miller said.

Starting Aug. 1, Miller will be technical director of the Abbotsford Soccer Association, which has the Abbotsford Mariners, a USL Premier Development League team in the same division as the Highlanders. He will also be head coach of the University of the Fraser Valley women's team.

Miller led the Highlanders to a 6-6-4 first season, which was marked by frustrating losses midway through the year and a strong resurgence for the final home games.

The team’s strong effort for the last three matches, despite being out of playoff contention, speaks to the quality of players, he said. “A lesser group may have just chucked it in,” Miller said. These guys kept going. The attitude of the players is second to none.”

Miller said his main legacy was creating the foundation for player recruitment and training, and not having to start from scratch each season. It was critical to instill the correct attitudes in the top players and the developing youth, he said, to bring a level of professionalism unseen in local soccer.

“I’m still very disappointed we didn’t make the playoffs,” Miller said. “But I still consider the season a huge success. I enjoyed every bit of the experience.”

Highlanders general manager Drew Finerty described Miller as the star of the team, as a former professional player with the Toronto Blizzard and the Rangers FC in Scotland. Miller also played played 61 games for the Canadian national team and was on the squad for Canada’s 1986 World Cup appearance in Mexico.

Finerty said he expects to field a number of strong candidates interested in the top job, including staff currently with the Highlanders.

“We want to thank Colin. He’s been a huge part of the build-out of our team,” Finerty said. “The name Colin Miller put us on the map. It’s very disappointing he couldn’t be here longer.”

editor@goldstreamgazette.com