Orlin Chalmers has lofty goals behind his decision to move to Brandon.

The new technical director for Westman Regional Soccer Association and head coach of the Brandon University women’s soccer team isn’t shy about his plans.

“It’s adding value to the area, adding value to football, showing kids that there is an avenue playing this sport, where I don’t know that is the consensus around the community,” Chalmers said.

“It just seems like it’s … for some, not all a recreational thing right now. My dream would be that it becomes an avenue for kids to go pro. I would love that and want to be a part of that.”

Chalmers has first-hand knowledge of what it takes. The Brampton, Ont., native joined French professional club AS Cannes in high school, spending his summers with its youth team.

He suited up for Canada’s under-17 and U21 squads, including the 1999 U17 CONCACAF championship.

“That catapulted me to see what football was really like and get a good education and foundation in coaching and playing,” Chalmers said.

“Every time I came back, I always gave back. I came back to camps, coaching different programs around our area as well as my previous club when I left.”

A torn groin derailed his national team career but he stretched his career out, playing a few seasons with the Canadian Professional Soccer League’s Hamilton Thunder and USL’s Calgary Storm.

Chalmers said the transition to coaching was easy after learning from such a breadth of terrific coaches.

Now 41, he has been training youth players for more than two decades.

With WRSA, he’s hoping to bring a more serious approach to development. He said it’s tough to keep pace with other regions in just a few sessions per week and wants to ramp up the volume for players looking to play at higher levels.

At BU, he’s in new territory to some degree as he hasn’t coached a post-secondary team. Chalmers isn’t concerned about recruiting, however, as he’s used to the other side of it in helping his players land with teams.

“I really want to try and use this as a transition point for some players who do want to take it further,” Chalmers said. “I view it as that, I view it as trying to add some professionalism to a situation that maybe wouldn’t have been there before. That’s kind of what I want to demonstrate.”

Chalmers joins lead assistant coach Bailee Ploshynsky, who played for the Bobcats from 2014 to 2017 and won back-to-back Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference titles.

The Bobcats and WRSA went through a period of transition in 2022 after BU placed former women’s coach Jesse Roziere on leave due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Some of those were later confirmed by a third-party investigation and Roziere’s BU contract was not removed. WRSA went without a TD from fall 2021 when the allegations were made public, until this month when Chalmers started.

FREE KICKS: Three more players have signed letters of intent to join the BU women’s volleyball team, per the U Sports letter of intent registry. British Columbia products Grace Gallacher and Shaunti Gill and Vincent Massey Vikings’ middle blocker Tiana Low, who was a 2022 Volleyball Manitoba graduating all-star, are set for the 2023-24 Canada West season. Head coach Lee Carter is on leave while an external investigation examines his conduct following complaints from players.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @thomasmfriesen