CAYMAN ISLANDS — Martin Linley, the boys junior varsity soccer coach at Analy High, died Monday in a diving accident off the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. News of his death was announced Tuesday to some Analy players, and it spread through the local soccer community where he had been an ardent player, coach and fan. "Anybody in Sonoma County knew who he was and how passionate he was about soccer," said David Shaffer, the boys' director of coaching for the Santa Rosa United soccer club. "He was just a real ambassador for the game because of how much he loved soccer." Linley, 51, apparently experienced dizziness and later lost consciousness while taking part in an organized dive Monday off Grand Cayman Island. Initial news reports said the Royal Cayman Island Police Marine Unit responded and gave CPR to an unnamed California man, who was pronounced dead at George Town Hospital. Linley's wife Elizabeth, who was with him on the vacation, relayed to friends the news of his death. Cardinal Newman varsity soccer coach Paul Dixon, a close friend for more than 15 years, said Linley was an experienced diver and his death was "a great shock to us all." He recalled that Linley, as a Santa Rosa United coach, gave extra time to his players, even taking them camping or skiing. "Martin was all about the kids," Dixon said. An engineering technician and Cazadero resident, Linley came to the U.S. in 1985. He had coached in many different venues, including for adults and for well over a decade for Santa Rosa United. He was Analy's varsity soccer coach in the late 1980s and three years ago returned as the junior varsity coach. "It's just amazing the impact Martin had on the entire soccer community," said Joe Ellwood, Analy's athletic director. "He had that personality that really made people gravitate toward him. He could find the good in anything." In a 2006 story in The Press Democrat, Linley recalled as a boy watching England's last World Cup victory in 1966 and the impression it made on him. "You always expect to win," he explained. "The first World Cup I ever remember watching we won. I don't understand why we can't win every time." While soccer is a highly competitive sport, Linley wasn't primarily about the win but about the boys, Analy parents said Tuesday. He was the positive type of coach that Sebastopol parents said they wanted in their children's lives. "More than the score or the win, he was in it for the boys every game, every day," said Suzanne Yeomans of Graton, whose son Tyler, a junior, played this season and last year for Linley. "He was funny and creative in his directions even when he was passionately responding to a moment in a game," Yeomans said. "He was so highly respectful of the boys and was never condescending like many coaches can be." The most recent season brought several losses for the team, which had 14 players. For several games the team was plagued with illness, including swine flu, and injuries. At times Linley had few opportunities to swap out players. At Thursday night's end-of-season soccer banquet in Occidental, Linley reviewed the season, telling players how proud he was of them. He praised them for stepping up when the lineup was thin and giving their all. After the dinner, he shook hands with players and parents, encouraging the teens to try out for varsity next year. "He actually, really cared about every boy on the team," said Jenny Uleman of Sebastopol, whose son Matt, a junior, played two years for Linley. His British accent was a constant source of good-natured fun for his team. Standing on the sidelines with a hat to protect his fair coloring from the sun, he'd call the boys "mates." "He was the best coach I've ever had," said Tynan Parker, a junior who played this season for Linley. "Just because through all of his goofy ways of teaching us, his accent ... he really knew a lot about soccer and he really cared about our team." Parker said he hoped to pull together a game in honor of the coach. "He was a great guy, a fun great guy." Linley used colorful phrases, such as "It's like watching an oil tanker turn, mates," when he wanted someone to run faster, or tweaking his players with, "Shall I just run down to get a coffee?" suggesting he had time to do that while they completed a play. Practices this year at Ragle Park often were punctuated with the boys trying to echo his accent and calling each other "mates." | 
