Arrest warrant issued for junior soccer coach believed to have defrauded team

By Canadian Press on February 21, 2025.

EDMONTON — An Alberta junior soccer coach believed to have vanished with thousands of dollars raised by his team’s young players has a warrant out for his arrest.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Carolin Maran says Randy Knodel has been charged with 13 counts of fraud and one count of uttering a forged document.

She says investigators are continuing their search to find the 46-year-old head coach of the Selects Football Club’s Tier 1 boys team.

Parents say the team worked to raise money for a tournament in Las Vegas but soon learned they weren’t registered for the event, hotel rooms weren’t booked and the money was gone.

Assistant coach and team manager Lauren Scorgie has said nobody has been able to contact Knodel.

Parents came together to start a GoFundMe for the team, which has raised almost $60,000, to give back to the soccer community and attend other competitions in the coming year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2025.

Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press