After only four years with the Durham College men's soccer program as head coach, Dave Ashfield led the Lords to a provincial championship for the first time in 20 years and a top-five finish nationally in Nanaimo, B.C.
Since joining Durham as head coach in 2014-15, Ashfield's squads have qualified for the playoffs each year and made it to the provincial championship three times. In his first season as head coach he led the Lords to their best performance since 1999, when the team won bronze at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship. They finished his inaugural season as head coach with a 5-2-0 conference record, making it to the bronze medal game, which they lost 1-0 to the Sheridan Bruins.
He also had experience with the OCAA prior to arriving at Durham College, having been an associate head coach with Centennial’s women’s soccer team during the 1994-95 season and from 1998-2001. In the Colts’ inaugural outdoor season, the team won an OCAA silver medal and followed that up with a championship title during the indoor season. In 2000, the Colts once again reached the podium winning another outdoor silver medal. He was also an assistant coach with Durham’s men’s soccer team in 2013.
As a player, Ashfield represented the country as he was Team Canada’s starting goalkeeper for the U16 team. At this level, he became the first goalkeeper in this age group to record consecutive shutouts at an international event. Provincially, Ashfield was the starting goalkeeper for team Ontario from 1983-85. His team won national titles in back-to-back years and was bronze medalists at the Canada Games in 1985.
He also played professionally with the Toronto Blizzard of the Canadian Soccer League who won the regular season championship in 1990.
With the North York Cosmos, he was named goalkeeper of the year in 1984 and won the Ontario Cup silver medal in 1985. Ashfield also has experience playing for the Panhellenic Soccer Club (semi-professional), Toronto Italia, Scarborough Azzurri and the Markham Soccer Club.
He has also been a regional referee since 2001 where he has had the opportunity to officiate in the Canadian Soccer League for the past two seasons.
