Nick Dasović
Professional soccer player and coach
A product of Croatia SC Juvenile system born in 1968, Nick had an outstanding career as a professional player. Nick’s skill coupled with his commitment, dedication and drive to succeed saw Nick in many parts of the soccer world in which he progressed to higher levels as a player and a person.
Nick ended his amateur career with Croatia SC playing in the Canadian Championship final in Sherbrooke in 1986. He began his professional career in Canada with the North York Rockets then went to the Montreal Impact.
From there Nick progressed to higher levels and spent time in Croatia where he was under contract to Dinamo Zagreb. He also spent time in France and Sweden before signing for St Johnstone in Scotland where he played for six years. The highlight of his stay in Scotland was beating the Glasgow Rangers in the League Cup where he scored the winning goal. He also scored the winning goal in a 1:0 win over Celtic. In his first season with St. Johnstone and taking charge of the midfield, his hard play and desire were the key to St. Johnstone’s success and promotion to the Scottish Premier League.
His hard work was recognised by the coaching staff of the Canadian National team where Nick provided the the ever so needed leadership over his 63 appearances to the National program for 12 years (1992-2004). Nick finished his professional career with the Vancouver Whitecaps where he played for three years.
Nicks’ commitment, hard work and outstanding career were recognised by the Canadian Soccer Association in 2011 when he was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. A total commitment to soccer and a wealth of experience enabled Nick to pursue a coaching career which saw him share his knowledge and help build soccer in Canada with various professional teams in Toronto and with the Canadian National Soccer Program. Nick also spent one season with the San Jose Earthquakes as an assistant coach.
Currently, Nick is the manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps under 23 development program grooming the next stars and leaders for the Whitecaps and the Canadian National Team.
Tomo Štephan
Founding Member
A member of Croatia SC from 1963 to his passing away in 2018 at the age of 94, Tomo was the driving force of the club. While in good health, Tomo never missed a game be it rain or shine. The first role that Tomo held with the club was during the 63-64 and 64-65 seasons as the coach. Through his time with the club, Tomo held almost all executive positions. Never one to sit and always wanting to have Croatia SC amongst the best, Tomo, along with Columbus and Eintracht management, strove to form a semi pro league in Vancouver. This unfortunately was not well received by the BC governing soccer body and the league was suspended. Tomo never relented and carried on to find ways for the club to participate on the amateur level by registering a team in the Burnaby Men’s League. From there, the Croatia SC joined the B.C. Soccer League, and later returned to the re-activated Pacific Coast Soccer League where the Club enjoyed some of its best results, winning the Canadian Amateur Championship “Air Canada Cup” in 1985 and finishing second in Canada in 1986. Tomo and his family not only dedicated themselves to Croatia SC but also their business, the Olympia Orthopedic shoe shop, where the club’s official office was set up for over 5 years. Some still remember the good times everyone had there while celebrating a big win – Tomo would take the jerseys to get them washed a few doors down from the shop and his wife would stitch any torn shirts, shorts or socks to have ready for the next game.