European Soccer School of Excellence - World Class Soccer Program - Roman Tulis - Greater Vancouver, BC, Canada

Tulis Built An Unmatched Soccer Legacy
One of B.C.'s most successful coaches succumbs to cancer

BY YVONNE ZACHARIAS, VANCOUVER SUN

Roman Tulis, whose elite Burnaby-based soccer school turned out top-flight players both at home and around the world, died Thursday night after a long battle with cancer. The Czechoslovakian-born immigrant, who was in his mid-50s, was surrounded by family.

Tributes began pouring in Friday for the man who did so much to boost the game in B.C. Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi praised Tulis for professionalizing coaching in Vancouver. Through his soccer academy, "he paved the way for what has ended up being a lot more people making a career out of the game here in B.C." Lenarduzzi particularly admired the way Tulis stayed away from petty infighting. "I always found him to be a really class act. He seemed to rise above the competitiveness of the coaching fraternity," said Lenarduzzi. "He did his thing. He did it quietly and he did it very well. He was just a really pleasant fellow. Whenever you saw him, he had a smile on his face. He didn't want to argue about politics in soccer. He just wanted to coach."

Bjorn Osieck, chief executive with the B.C. Soccer Association, described Tulis as a leader and a gentleman within the game as well as a successful entrepreneur. Besides complementing the work of the soccer association, Osieck noted that Tulis was recognized in Europe and by FIFA, the world governing body for soccer. "He was an outstanding and distinguished soccer expert and as such, his loss is certainly very painful and unfortunate." Indeed, Tulis was often the only Canadian coach invited to annual Union of European Football Coaches seminars held in conjunction with FIFA. Tulis left what was then Czechoslovakia and is now Slovakia in 1987 but he never severed his European soccer ties. As such, he was well positioned to pave the way for talented players from here to find spots on professional European soccer teams. And because he was a transplant onto Canadian soil, he also knew how to prepare players going abroad. He had an empathy for them that went well beyond teaching them the finer points of the game.

From an early age, it was obvious that Tulis was destined to be a major contributor to the sport. In an interview with The Vancouver Sun at his Coquitlam home shortly before Christmas, he recalled sleeping with a soccer ball, which was his Christmas present, instead of a teddy bear when he was five years old. Tulis pursued the sport over the objections of his father, a highly educated man, who preferred tennis, piano and English classes for his son, considering soccer to be a game of the lower classes. An only child, Tulis never resented his father for this. "That is why I am who I am," he said. "He never cared. It was me who cared. In this new generation, parents care and many kids don't care. You cannot be pushed to soccer. You cannot be pushed to anything."

Thirty-one years ago, he met Danka, the love of his life. They married and she has rarely been far from his side since. She gave her unwavering support when Roman decided they should move to Canada and again, when he decided to embark on the risky venture of setting up a private soccer school. In the former Czechoslovakia, Tulis coached players who eventually went on to great heights. Then after arriving here and setting up his school, he coached several talented Whitecaps players including Marcus Haber and Kevin Harmse.

Beyond his soccer experience, in many ways, Tulis's story has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood successful immigrant story. It began at Expo 86; Tulis spent six months here working in the Czechoslovakia pavilion and fell in love with Canada. "I saw the cleanliness and the smiling people. I saw the fairness of Canadians. I love Canadian people. They have helped us everywhere." With two suitcases in hand, he and Danka left everything behind, first for a year in Austria and then to come permanently to Canada.

When they first landed here, Tulis, who had worked in the hospitality business in Czechoslovakia, started working as a waiter in Robson Square. He eventually rose to manager of the Hyatt. Then in 1992, he was invited by the B.C. Soccer Association to attend a coaching camp at the Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island where Alan Hodgkinson, former English national goalkeeper, recognized his talents. Later the same year, he opened the Roman Tulis European Soccer School of Excellence in Burnaby.

A sharp critic of the way the game is coached here, Tulis didn't always endear himself. He feels that well-intentioned parent volunteers with a knowledge of the game ranging from poor to non-existent are filling the role in Canada, squandering the talents of budding young soccer players who lack proper instruction. "I was kind of a little bit too honest, too honest to tell them they are cheating the kids," he admitted in the interview. You have to be positive, he said, but you have to be honest, too.

Whatever qualms existed were quickly banished by the success enjoyed by players from his school. It was more intensive than minor league soccer clubs in that it put players through year-round schooling with training several times a week. One of his proudest moments came in June 2003, when a team from his school beat Ajax Amsterdam, the top Dutch team and one of the top teams in European history.

In the final months of his life, Tulis said he was proud of his accomplishments in the sport and of his family. His illness, he said, had taught him how good they are together. He is survived by his wife, Danka, his daughter, Nicole, and his son, Roman Jr., who is a medical school student at the University of Alberta. The location and time of Tulis's service have not been announced. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to a local registered charity whose mission is to help families who have children with cancer or who are struggling financially: the British Columbia Childhood Cancer Patient’s Association at www.bcccpa.org.