(London, Ontario) – Canada Soccer announced recently the coaches who have successfully completed their A Licence, including Fanshawe Men's Soccer Head Coach Rob Pereira.

The A Licence is the top-level certification in the Performance Stream of Canada Soccer's Coach Education Program for senior players currently playing in a college/university, professional club or academy environment. The licence comes with a three year validity.

"I'm proud to have been in the group of A Licence recipients this year," said Pereira.  "It was a great learning experience and I believe coaching education never really stops. Just as I ask our Fanshawe student-athletes to improve everyday, we as a staff need to do the same."

"This is a significant achievement for Rob in his coaching development and one that will directly benefit our student-athletes," said Nathan McFadden, Fanshawe's Manager of Athletics. "He is highly respected as both a person and a coach, and the character, passion, level of caring, and will to succeed that he and his staff bring to our program is exceptional."

Pereira started his Fanshawe career as a student-athlete in 2001 as a player for the Men's Soccer team. He won two OCAA bronze medals in 2001-02 and 2003-04. In 2004, Pereira was named the Fanshawe Male Athlete of the Year, OCAA All-Star, OCAA Scoring Champion and a CCAA All-Canadian.

He joined the Falcons Men's Soccer coaching staff as an Associate Coach in 2005 and moved into the Assistant Coach role in 2010. He was named Head Coach of Fanshawe's Men's Soccer Outdoor and Indoor programs in 2015. Since that time, Pereira has been named the OCAA West Division Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2019, and the overall OCAA Coach of the Year in 2015. He has an impressive Outdoor Soccer league record of 39-3-7 (.795 win percentage) during his tenure as Head Coach. Most recently, Pereira coached his team to an OCAA Outdoor Soccer silver medal in 2019-20 and OCAA Indoor Soccer silver medal in 2018-19.

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