Simon appointed Redmen soccer coach

David Simon (pronounced see-mone) has been appointed interim head coach of the McGill men's soccer team, replacing Philippe Eullaffroy (oolah-fraw) for the 2009-10 school year.

Eullaffroy, who continues to serve in an advisory capacity with the McGill Redmen, is on a leave of absence to direct the Trois Rivières Attak FC, a Canadian Soccer League farm team of the Montreal Impact.

Simon, a former all-star player with the Redmen, is a 36-year-old native of Paris, France, who earned a law degree from McGill in 2000.

He has served as an assistant coach and fitness coordinator for past two years under Eullaffroy and was part of the McGill coaching staff from 2000 to 2002, helping the Redmen win a bronze medal at the 2002 CIS national championships.

Simon was head coach of the Longueuil senior elite men's team in 2005 and 2008. He earned coach-of-the-year honours in 2006 after directing the Lac St Louis Lakers under-18 boys team to a division title in the Quebec Elite League, in addition to winning the Saputo AAA Quebec Cup title and a national title at the Canadian club championships, where his squad team posted a 5-0 record.

He also served two years as an assistant coach with the Lac St. Louis Regional Selects (2000 and 2001).

During his playing career, Simon was a midfielder and defender for the Redmen in 1998 and 1999 after three years at Tufts University in Boston, where he played from 1992 to 1994 and served as a tri-captain in his final year before graduating with a BA (history) in 1995. With McGill, he earned all-conference honours in 1999 and the Redmen qualified for the CIS national championships both years. At Tufts, his team reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III championships in 1994.

Simon also played soccer in the Quebec Elite League for a number of years and won two Quebec Cup titles with the Lac St Louis Lakers in 2001 and 2002.

The Redmen will open their 2009 season with a scrimmage game against the U-18 Lac St. Louis Lakers on Aug. 22 at Molson Stadium. They will then head for Manchester, N.H., to play the University of Southern New Hampshire in pre-season play on Aug. 24, followed by the Old Four tournament in London, Ont., Aug. 29-30. The Trois Rivières Attak will play McGill at Molson Stadium on Sept. 2 and the Redmen are scheduled to play their final pre-season affair at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., Sept. 5. The regular-season opener is slated for Sept. 10, when the Montreal Carabins visit Molson Stadium on Sept. 10.

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012