USL League One recently announced that Richmond Kickers’ Chief Sporting Officer and Head Coach Darren Sawatzky was nominated for the league’s Coach of the Year award.

This marks Sawatzky’s second Coach of the Year nomination after earning the award in 2022 after the Kickers captured the 2022 Players’ Shield for winning the regular season.

Under Sawatzky’s leadership, the club earned a 2024 Young Player of the Year nomination for 18-year-old Richmond native Griffin Garnett and two 2024 All-League Second Team selections for Richmond native Simon Fitch and Nil Vinyals.

In the 2024 regular season, the Kickers earned their third playoff berth in four seasons as the Roos ripped off a six-match unbeaten streak and closed out the season 4-1-2 with four matches coming against fellow 2024 playoff teams.

The Kickers’ coaching staff earned recognition for their continued commitment to developing the next generation not only on the training pitch but also on match day. Rostered players under 20 years of age played a combined 2,676 minutes in the regular season alone.

“We are very proud of the project we are working on here at the Richmond Kickers. We want to develop young players and give them a platform to develop, to perform, and to excel as we chase the post season and hardware,” Sawatzky said.

“We are not happy that we are now watching the playoffs rather than competing in them, but we are proud of this group of players and their persistence to chase excellence. The recognition for our coaching staff is appreciated and we are grateful that people recognize what we are working to build here.”

Season tickets are available for the 2025 season. Additional information can be found at richmondkickers.com/seasontickets.