By Ottawa Sports Pages, for West Ottawa Soccer Club
It’s a tie game in a tense match with a well-matched rival, and your team manages to score the winning goal. Whether the setting is this summer’s FIFA World Cup in Canada or the local pitch at Wesley Clover Parks, soccer players of all levels who have lived that elation know it’s a feeling unlike any other.
“You’re a little bit nervous, but you don’t have time to be nervous because you’re so in it,” West Ottawa Soccer Club Executive Director Jessie Burgins says of the moment before the big goal comes to fruition. “Then when it happens… There’s no words for it. It’s just everything at once – the goosebumps, the scenes of the players excited, everyone coming together, that energy, that feeling… It just feels like the best thing in the world.”
Those are the moments Burgins remembers most vividly from playing youth soccer, and certainly form a big part of why he fell in love with the sport. Of course, soccer can sometimes deliver the opposite feeling of devastation, he adds, but from that comes an opportunity to grow and become hungry for the next challenge.
Set to enter his first full season after taking the helm of WOSC last summer, Burgins is bubbling for his own latest pursuit after leading Suburban FC in Halifax for six years.
“I was really excited to take on this challenge, and I’m up for the challenge,” underlines the former St. Francis-Xavier University athlete who guided Suburban FC to become Atlantic Canada’s only National Youth Club License holder. “It’s no different than when I play the sport. I live for those moments when it’s a big game, or a big challenge. Let’s do this.”
Burgins grew up playing with the Ottawa Fury youth program locally and played men’s soccer in his later teens for FC Capital United and Cumberland United, where he began his career as a coach, technical director and operations manager for the club then called Ottawa TFC.
Not all players want to become coaches, and not all coaches want to become club leaders, but Burgins had a passion for all three roles. And he believes that fundamentally, they’re much very the same.
“I know how to work with people, and that’s the #1 thing,” indicates the former Halifax Wanderers Canadian Premier League assistant coach. “If you’re a player, you could never feel like you’re the best of the best. You’ve got to stay humble and work at it.
“If you’re a leader, you could never feel like you’re too hard to reach or you’re too big to touch. You have to stay humble, because you’re dealing with people, and if you want people to work with you, and get the most out of people – and it’s the same as a coach – you have to get down to their level and show them that you’re there for them. It all intertwines.”
Not all executive directors have a background as a player, let alone a National A License coaching certification, but Burgins says that his knowledge of the sport has been a “massive” asset as he stepped into his new role at WOSC.
“I know what is a good product, and I know what product needs work,” he outlines, noting that it’s also become easier to build trust alongside new colleagues who share strong technical expertise.
In Burgins’ assessment, he saw there were quality programs established at West Ottawa for players of all ages and levels. He thought the club’s recreational leagues and WeeWarriors programs were really top-notch. He felt WOSC’s competitive programs and skills centre were very good overall, but the club’s driving goal is now to ensure that every player, no matter their age or level, benefits from a consistent, high-quality development experience.
“Everybody on the same page, everybody with the same goal, no one left on their own island,” signals the Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School grad.
Altogether, Burgins saw the club as a bit of a “sleeping giant.”
“I’ve always known West Ottawa as the big club with a lot of numbers,” explains the father of four children ranging in age from 10 years old to 19 months. “But truly, we haven’t really been seen on the national stage where people will look at us like, ‘Oh, there’s West Ottawa,’ a little bit like you would see with other clubs around the city or around the province.
“But when I think about it, I’m like, there’s so much potential. There’s no reason for us to not be there.”
A growth mindset, always looking to improve and “squeezing out every ounce of juice that we can” is what it will take to drive forward, adds Burgins.
He’s eager to inject rejuvenated energy into the club that was founded in 2010, and spur a renewed focus on providing a home for talent, a pathway for ambition, a club where players of all levels feel connected to something larger, and a place where dreams are nurtured, supported and realized.
“This is a new era,” Burgins underlines. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s a good base in place. But in this era, I want to further instill that passion and desire.
“That’s the goal and the mission that we’re on – to awaken that sleeping giant, and become a true giant.”
The rise may be slow but steady in some respects, he notes, but it starts by cultivating a strong culture and community, and producing a shared spirit – like a team coming together to celebrate that late winning goal.
“Honestly, at the heart of it all, it’s not even just about soccer. It’s about way more than that,” Burgins highlights. “The kids will learn. They will make friends. They will learn how to have fun. They will learn how to have a passion to go after something. They will learn discipline, because they had to actually stick with something long enough, and they want to stick with it because they’re having fun.
“And then they could take all that teamwork and those skills they’re learning to the next level, and then eventually you’ll see we’ll have a massive alumni network who are going to want to pour back into the club because they’ve had that type of experience.
“That unity piece, I’m telling you, it’s the key.”
Learn more about West Ottawa Soccer Club at WOSC.com and register now for Spring/Summer 2026 programs!
