During his playing days, Gareth Evans brought a combination of guile and steel to the field in the center of midfield, featuring prominently for both Wilmington Hammerheads FC and OKC Energy FC on his way to more than 100 appearances in the league’s modern era.

After stepping away from the playing arena in 2016, though, Evans is still strongly connected to the game in Oklahoma City, where he is now plying his trade on the sidelines for Oklahoma FC, Energy FC’s youth academy, and helping the top young players in the region hone their skills with the insights Evans brings from his playing career, and development as a coach.

We caught up with the former All-League selection recently to find out how he’s adapted to life on the sidelines, and to take a look back at what was an outstanding career on the field in the USL.

Q: We don’t get to see you on the field anymore, but you’re still active in Oklahoma City as a coach for Oklahoma FC. What has it been like making the transition to the sideline over the past couple of years?

Gareth Evans: It’s been great, I’ve really enjoyed it. I was already coaching quite a bit before I retired so it was a relatively easy transition. My club has recently affiliated with Energy FC and expanded throughout Oklahoma, into Tulsa too and we are currently making a big push to join the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. We have a ton of talented kids here in Oklahoma, as shown recently with our girls in the SYL North American Finals last month. Our ‘05, ‘04, ’03 – which I coach – and ‘99 girls teams made their finals with the ‘05’s and ‘99’s going on to win.

On our boys side our ‘03’s and ‘01’s just won their respective National Leagues to qualify for Nationals, our ‘02’s will finish in the top three and our ‘04’s – who finish their National League play in March – have a great chance of winning and qualifying for Nationals as well. On top of that, two of our ‘04 boys just made the U.S. National team roster and we also have previous players on the girls’ side who have gone on to represent the U.S. and Wales internationally. All in all, it’s a very exciting time to be a part of what we have going on here in Oklahoma, and I’m proud to be able to play a small part in this.

Q: From what we’ve been seeing you’re having some good success as well, especially at the SYL North American Finals last month?

GE: Yes, my ‘03 girls had an outstanding tournament in Florida. We finished as runners-up and unfortunately fell a little short in the final where we lost 1-0, but it was a great experience for the team and their families who came out. The SYL did a great job hosting at IMG, it’s a beautiful facility. I’ve also coached a couple of State Cup winning teams and gone to compete at regional events, too, which has all been a great learning curve for me as a coach and has also helped build my own experience. Going from being a player – where your only worry is playing – to now the complete opposite, having to make sure the team is prepared on the field, and then everyone and everything is taken care of off the field with regards to travel, hotels, meals and everything else – where I must give big thanks to my team managers! – is quite the transition, but one I’ve loved every minute of.

Q: You made more than 100 appearances in the USL and were the first player to reach 10,000 minutes played in the league’s modern era. Was there anything in particular you enjoyed most about your playing career?

GE: I enjoyed it all really, through the good times and the bad. I was fortunate enough to travel and live all over America from East to West, get to compete day-in day-out with some outstanding players, learn a lot from some brilliant coaches and meet some people who’ll be friends for life. It also gave me a platform to form a life for myself in a country I now proudly call home, so that’s something I’ll be eternally grateful for.