Lazo Džepina (; born October 27, 1966) is a

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...

businessman, football manager, and former player. His playing career initially began with

Dinara Dinara is a long mountain range in the Dinaric Alps, located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east: * Ilica or Ujilica (1654 m) * Sinjal or Dinara (1831 m), ep ...

, and later in the

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Прва савезна лига / Prva savezna liga) was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed following the breakup of Yu ...

with

Rad RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley R ...

. He received his first piece of silverware in the

First League of the Republika Srpska The First League of the Republika Srpska ( sh, Prva liga Republike Srpske / ) is a second level Association football, football competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The league champion is promoted to the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

with FK Borac Banja Luka by winning the

Republika Srpska Cup The Football Cup of Republika Srpska (Serbian Cyrillic: Kуп Peпубликe Cpпcкe, Serbian Latin: Kup Republike Srpske), also just known as the Republika Srpska Cup, is a secondary knockout football competition contested annually by clubs ...

. His playing career came to a conclusion abroad in 2005 in the Canadian Professional Soccer League with

Hamilton Thunder The Hamilton Thunder were a soccer team located in Hamilton, Ontario, playing in the Western Conference of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The team played its home fixtures at Brian Timmis Stadium until a rent dispute with the city cau ...

. After retiring from professional football he made the transition to the managerial side by managing in the

Croatian Third Football League The Treća nogometna liga ( eng, Third football league), commonly Treća NL or 3. NL) is the fourth tier of the Croatian football league system, football league system. The league was reestablished in 2022 following the reconstruction of league s ...

with his former club Dinara in 2010. After a season in Croatia he returned to the CSL to manage the

Brantford Galaxy Brantford Galaxy Soccer Club was a semi-professional Canadian soccer club based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, with their home venue located in Hamilton, Ontario at the Heritage Field Turf. The club competes in the Canadian Soccer League, a leag ...

, where in his first season he led the team to a

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final or CSL Championship is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North A ...

. After a series of poor performances in 2011 he was relieved from his coaching duties. In 2011,

SC Waterloo Region SC Waterloo Region is a professional Canadian soccer team that plays in the Canadian Soccer League, a non-FIFA-sanctioned league. The club was formed in 2011 under the name KW United FC and competed in the Second Division of the CSL. The following ...

was granted a CSL franchise with Džepina holding several shares in the club, and was given the coaching responsibilities. He led Waterloo to their first and his second championship medal in 2013.

Playing career

Džepina began his career with his hometown club

. In 1990, he signed with

of the

, and played with FK Borac Banja Luka where he won the

. In 2005, he went abroad to Canada to play with the

of the Canadian Professional Soccer League.

Managerial career

After his retirement from competitive football he managed NK Dinara in 2010. In 2010, he returned to Canada to manage expansion franchise

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. In preparation for the 2010 season, Džepina utilized the growing procession of European players to the CSL by recruiting their services. The acquisition of European imports played a pivotal role in Brantford's

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

success in defeating

Hamilton Croatia Hamilton Croatia is a Croatian Canadian amateur soccer team founded in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1957. It is supported by the Croatian Sports and Community Centre of Hamilton Inc. (formerly the Croatian National Sports Club of Hamilton, Inc.) ...

by a score of 3-0. The victory marked a historic milestone in CSL history as Brantford became the first expansion side to win the title in their debut season. The following season he continued in his capacity as head coach, and further strengthened his roster with additional imports from Europe. Unfortunately after a mediocre start to the season Džepina was dismissed from his post. In 2012, after the promotion of Kitchener Waterloo United FC to the CSL First Division the team was renamed to

with Džepina becoming a shareholder in the organization. He assumed the managerial duties of the club, and continued in his policy of European recruitment. In his first season with Waterloo he failed to secure the final postseason berth by two points. Džepina brought further championship success to the Waterloo region in the 2013 season with the senior team defeating

Kingston FC Kingston FC were a Canadian soccer team based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The team was awarded a franchise in 2011 as a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and participated in the league for three seasons, 2012 to 2014. In February 2015, Ki ...

, while the reserve squad claimed the Second Division championship after defeating Toronto Croatia B. The victories placed Džepina in a class of distinction by becoming the second head coach in CSL history in acquiring more than one CSL Championship. His next significant season was in the 2015 season, where Waterloo reached the championship finals, but were defeated in the finals to Toronto Croatia. While the reserve team clinched the Second Division title, but lost in the finals to Milton SC B.

Honours

Manager

;Brantford Galaxy *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

;SC Waterloo Region *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzepina, Lazo 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Knin Serbs of Croatia Association football midfielders Serbian footballers Croatian footballers FK Rad players FK Borac Banja Luka players Hamilton Thunder players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Croatian football managers Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in Canada