Rino’s Lament the Passing of Andrew Wade

There are no words that can fully describe the collective sorrow felt by those who call this club home.   We have lost a teammate.  A friend.  A brother.

Andrew Wade was the bright-eyed, fresh-faced kid from Colorado who showed up in 2004 and thought he could still play even when he had a broken wrist.  In the 7+ seasons that he spent with the club, he played midfield, defense, and offense.  If he were to be asked to play goalkeeper there’s no doubt he would have done so, without complaint, and with success.  Andrew was a coach’s dream and the ultimate teammate.  He always competed with boundless energy and a positive attitude; two qualities also apparent in the way he lived his life off the field.

After completing his undergrad in Cognitive Science at UBC, Andrew chose to stay in Vancouver and do a masters degree in Visual Analytics at SFU.  He still found the time to attend training regularly despite commuting to campus in Surrey, and even in the latter parts of his education when he was trotting the globe to attend conferences and give presentations related to his research (with some time found for sightseeing of course), he maintained his commitment to the team and the sport he loved.  Andrew was the first to welcome new guys to the team, and the last to go home when we would have a night at the pub.  He was keen to help others in any way that he could, and spent countless hours creating and maintaining this very website.  Our club has been extremely privileged to have a member like Andrew, and we can only hope that the example he set will inspire others to achieve similar greatness.

Andrew may have left us in body, but he will always be with us in spirit.