2025 ACAC Men's Soccer Coaches of the Year
Lethbridge, AB (October 23, 2025) –
North Men's Coach of the Year | JEFF PAULUS | NAIT Ooks:
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is proud to announce Jeff Paulus of the NAIT Ooks has been named the 2025 ACAC North Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year.
Jeff Paulus continues to set the standard for excellence within the NAIT Ooks men’s soccer program. This marks his second consecutive ACAC North Division Coach of the Year honour and his third in the past four seasons. Under his leadership, the Ooks went undefeated in the 2025 regular season with a record of 8-0-4, finishing second in the North Division. The team’s impressive balance on both sides of the ball resulted in 30 goals for and just 12 against, highlighting the effectiveness of Paulus’ tactical vision and the discipline he instills in his players.
Jeff brings a wealth of experience to the Ooks program, having spent nine years in the professional game with FC Edmonton and coaching at back-to-back Canada Summer Games (2017 and 2022). His work with Canada Soccer’s National Training Centre helped nurture some of the country’s top young talent. At NAIT, Jeff’s teams are known for playing a dynamic, team-first style of soccer built on creativity, resilience, and hard work. Beyond the results, he is deeply committed to developing student-athletes as well-rounded individuals who excel both on the field and in the classroom.
NAIT Athletics and Recreation Director Jordan Richey shared his thoughts on the achievement:
“Jeff is once again very deserving of this award. The consistency that his team shows year in and year out is a true testament to his ability to lead the NAIT men’s soccer program. His attention to detail and his passion to win in the ACAC is unmatched. NAIT Athletics would like to congratulate Jeff on this prestigious award.”
This prestigious award will be recognized at the 2025 ACAC Men’s Soccer Championship hosted by Lethbridge Polytechnic in Lethbridge, Alberta.
South Men's Coach of the Year | DAMIR OMEROVIC | Medicine Hat Rattlers:
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is proud to announce Damir Omerovic of the Medicine Hat Rattlers has been named the 2025 ACAC South Male Soccer Coach of the Year.
Coach Omerovic history with the Rattlers started as a player, who years later returned to be a Coach. Starting in the 2022-23 season as the Women’s Soccer Head Coach and Assistant Coach for the Men’s Soccer program, Omerovic had helped to rebuild the strength of the Rattlers Soccer programs a unit. Starting in 2023-24 as the Head Coach for the Men’s Soccer team, Damir Omerovic has progressively built success to the soccer team, year after year accomplishing better results.
This season, Coach Omerovic had numerous rookie players joining the team who made a stellar difference on the lineup. Ending as the second seed on the south, Damir Omerovic led the Rattlers Men’s Soccer program to the ACAC Soccer Championships, a position where the team has not been in a long time.
Terry Ballard, Medicine Hat College Rattlers Manager of Athletics and Recreation, shared that “Damir, a former Rattlers soccer student-athlete, joined the Rattlers coaching staff several years ago. Damir has grown as a coach over those years and now coaches both our Rattlers men’s and women’s soccer and futsal teams. Over the years Damir has steadily grown the men’s soccer program on the field by adding great soccer players and students, culminating this season with a top 2 finish and a 9 win, 1 lose record. Damir is a great recruiter, a good communicator and works to develop each player to get the best out of them to perform as a team each week. The team showed great results this season and will continue to improve even more with Damir as the Head Coach. Congratulations Damir.”
This prestigious award will be recognized at the 2025 ACAC Male Championship hosted by Lethbridge Polytechnic in Lethbridge, AB.
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About the ACAC: The ACAC is the governing body for intercollegiate athletics in Alberta. Its mission is to provide competitive collegiate sport experiences, promote academic achievement and be a leader of sport development in Canada.
For more information on the ACAC, please visit our website: www.acac.ab.ca
For additional information, contact:
Mark Kosak, Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference
Chief Executive Officer
403-875-7329
markk@acac.ab.ca
Emily Peterson, Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
emilyp@acac.ab.ca