The winds of change are continuing to blow on the Okanagan Sun organization.
While Jason Casey will return for a second season as head coach, the behind-the-scenes team underwent another makeover this off-season with the new look unveiled at Saturday's annual general meeting.
Out are team president Bill Long and general manager Howie Zaron, replaced by Paul Carson and Jay Christensen, respectively, though Carson said Zaron will stay with the club in lesser roles.
"Quite honestly, I felt, and Jay felt too, it was important that Howie be involved in the capacity that is really his strength and that's recruiting," said Carson, who is transitioning to the board of directors after 20-plus seasons of coaching experience, with the past seven spent overseeing the Sun's offensive line. "I had talked to (past president Les Weiss) about coming on the board and moving in that direction, then one thing led to another and we are where we are now.
"As far as Howie's concerned, it was sort of a mutual agreement and I think Howie understood some of the shortcomings of him not being located here and running the football operations," Carson continued. "From that side of things, everybody was in agreement that we needed somebody locally to be, on a daily basis, more hands-on here with the team."
That somebody is Christensen, the longtime head coach who returned midway through last season as the offensive co-ordinator, replacing Tony Lindsay. It was a tumultuous campaign that started with Casey replacing Pete McCall as head coach and ended with the Sun suffering a BCFC semifinal upset loss to the Langley Rams.
"Last year, a lot of things went on in a very short period of time leading up to the season. As far as the coaching change and how that was kind of managed, it put a real focus on the coaching staff," said Carson. "It really had nothing to do with me, as far as that (firing) process, but last year was challenging on a number of levels with the changes that went on. But, to me, at this point, it's all water under the bridge. We just want to move forward."