Tovi Eliasen is stepping down as the boys soccer coach at Dos Pueblos after a terrific two-year run.
Eliasen, an off-campus coach, cited family reasons for his decision. He leaves DP after posting a 35-14-8 record, with runner-up finishes in the CIF-SS Division 2 Final and the CIF State Regional Division 1 Championship in 2010. The Chargers made it to the second round of section Division 1 playoffs in 2011 and Eliasen announced his decision soon after.
Tovi Eliasen guided Dos Pueblos to the CIF-SS Division 2 final and CIF State Regional Division 1 championship game.
Eliasen and his wife, Becca, celebrated the birth of their first child, a son, Cruz Eliasen, just before the start of training for the 2010-11 season (Oct. 10, 2010).
“As I was prepping for the season, my wife was going through pregnancy,” he said. “Before the season started, I said, ‘I’m going to give this thing a go.‘ Some people said I was crazy to do the season with all the changes going on in our lives.
“I’d give it a go, but it was just too difficult being away that much from the little boy’s development and seeing all the little things each day,” said Eilasen, 27, who also divides his time with running a personal training business.
“I’m a one-man show doing personal training,” he said. “At the same time I’m going through the season, I’m trying to run that business, and the more hours I spent coaching, the less hours I was home with my family or actually working on the business.
“The first thing was family and the next thing was trying to maintain the business.”
Eliasen said Matt York, the junior varsity coach, has been named the interim varsity coach. He noted that varsity assistant Jake Cryan also stepped down to spend more time with his family.
“Matt has a great rapport with the players and the parents. He’s a great leader of people. I think the guys will follow him and will play hard for him. There’s definitely stability, because he’s a known guy on campus.”
Eliasen worked a total of three years in the DP soccer program. He started as an assistant under Pato Guerrero and became head coach when Guerrero took over the varsity girls team.
In his first year, the team finished second to Santa Barbara in Channel League and gave the Dons their only blemish on a perfect regular season, holding them to a 0-0 tie at DP.
The Chargers peaked in the CIF playoffs and got a rematch with Santa Barbara in the championship game.
On a momentous night for high school soccer in Santa Barbara and all of California, 8,000 fans poured into UCSB’s Harder Stadium to watch the Chargers and Dons play for the CIF Division 2 title.
Santa Barbara won the title, but it was an amazing night where everyone was a winner.
“I’m so happy to be a part of it,” said Eliasen.
This past season, Eliasen’s Chargers celebrated a rare victory over Santa Barbara, winning 1-0 at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
“These last two years, I’ve really given it everything I had for these guys,” Eliasen said. “I’m so pleased with our progress as a group. The support from the administration, the support from the parents, everybody bought in and we all came together and made the program great.
“Our program was elite in boys soccer. I really want that to continue.”
He hopes to return to coaching in the future.
“I’ve had 4-5 years of coaching at a pretty young age and I know that I love it,” he said. “I enjoy working with the kids. I would really love to get back into it and I know I will. It’s just a matter of when.”
