Summer Collegiate
Victoria HarbourCats – CCBC Golden Tide announce Vlaj as Head Coach, fill out coaching staff
For immediate release
June 20, 2025
VICTORIA, B.C. — For Chris Vlaj, it’s a promotion from a few years in an assistant coach role — to now being named the Head Coach of the Victoria Golden Tide of the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC).
Vlaj, 27, will lead a coaching staff that will include a new Pitching Coach Darius Opdam Bak, who pitched for the Golden Tide for three years, and returning Assistant Coach Colton O’Brien, who also serves as the lead for recruiting efforts.
Former Head Coach Ethan Fox has left the organization after being in that role for three seasons.
“We are pleased with the continuity in elevating Chris to this role, while bringing back Colton and seeing the transition of Darius to the coaching side,” said Jim Swanson, managing partner of the group that oversees the Golden Tide along with the West Coast League teams in both Victoria and Nanaimo.
“We thank Ethan for his time and service. We think this program is in position to take a next step and be a top program annually in the CCBC. These coaches are dedicated to putting in the work and being detailed to build the best season of Golden Tide baseball, and I’m excited to see them roll up their sleeves. Our organization goal is to never be outworked, and trust the process to become a force in the CCBC.”
The Golden Tide use the Edwards Family Training Centre and Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park as their primary facilities, for training, practices and games — excellent locations for a collegiate athlete.
Vlaj, a former catcher, brings experience from two strong programs — the Nanaimo Pirates and the Okanagan College Coyotes — where he proved to be a dependable presence behind the plate.
Opdam Bak (pictured above) a three-year starter with the Golden Tide and a former Little League World Series participant, has been building his coaching résumé at the high school level and is now set to make his collegiate coaching debut.
O’Brien, a former Victoria Eagles outfielder, continues to play a key role on staff as an assistant coach, with a primary focus on recruiting alongside the rest of the coaching team.
For more information on the Victoria Golden Tide, please visit their website at https://goldentide.ca/ and learn more about the coaches at https://goldentide.ca/coaching-staff/