Westlake resident named Development Coach of the Year

Westlake Village resident John Daykin was named Development Coach of the Year by the CalSouth State Soccer Association Feb. 17 at the Nike Awards banquet held at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles.

He was selected from 7,900 licensed coaches registered with CalSouth, the United States Youth Soccer Association's governing body for youth soccer in Southern California.

Daykin is on the coaching staff of Ventura County Fusion, a local men's soccer franchise. For the last 10 years he has coached youth soccer in the Conejo Valley with Apex Soccer Club of Thousand Oaks, where he took charge of the oldest girls' teams, and also with Westlake High School, Agoura High School and Conejo Valley United.

He has mentored coaches in club and high school soccer, worked as an instructor in CalSouth Coaches' Education and with State Olympic Development teams, and written how-to articles for Success in Soccer, a national soccer coaching magazine.

The nomination recognized how Daykin has inspired local female soccer players to stay in the game and find their passion, how he has positively impacted young players' lives outside of soccer and how his contributions to soccer have extended beyond the teams that he coaches and into the greater soccer community.