The 55-year-old coach tried to fly under the radar all of his life, but his passing has shown just how much of an impact he had on Canberra's soccer community.

He first got involved in coaching after his 28-year-old son Anthony picked up the sport in under fives in Queanbeyan, with his coaching career spanning about 19 years.

"If he had a water bottle in his hand and he turned around and squirted it on the ground, that is as angry as he got," his wife Wendy said.

"No roll of electrical tape was going to be any good to anyone either. He would have a roll of black electrical tape, either in his pocket or his jacket, and rip a piece off and then roll it up into a ball," his 22-year-old daughter Meg added.

Since 1999, Darren coached at Monaro Panthers FC before taking two years off and moving over to the Brindabella Blues in 2020 to lead their under 12 girls program. He then became a foundation coach for the newly-formed Bella Monaro Griffins' under 14 girls side.

During his time at Monaro he coached a range of teams, including the NPLW side and an under 13 boys team that competed in Korea. He and Wendy also billeted Korean players when Singok PS toured Canberra.

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In 2002 his daughter Meg started playing and Darren's coaching interests led him to his passion for coaching girls. In 2015, one of his girls sides won their age group in the Kanga Cup.

His work at the club was recognised in 2013, when he took home the Monaro Panthers Clubman of the Year.

"I actually don't think he went to the presentation, because he sort of knew that that was happening, and that was way too much. He didn't want to be in the limelight, he was just happy to be in the background, and he certainly didn't want to go to a presentation dinner where anyone was going to make a fuss over what he'd done," Wendy remembered.

"My husband always thought he flew under the radar and a favourite saying of his was 'keep a low profile'. And he's just blown that theory out of the water. Because the response people have shown me and the family, and not just from Brindabella or Monaro, but from other clubs around the district, has been overwhelming."

But the glazier by trade never actually played soccer himself, as he grew up playing rugby union and other sports. However he took those same learnings and as a coach he lived by the saying, "if you haven't got anything good to say, don't say anything at all".

"They weren't always teams that our kids were in. He just loved it," Wendy said.

"He was a very, very hard worker so it was a little bit of an escape from work and he always joined in the drills, he was never just a coach that stood there and gave orders, he was always showing the kids what to do."

"Kids that I've grown up with reached out and said 'he wasn't just a coach', he taught them, obviously a lot of soccer stuff, but he also taught them life skills," Meg chimed in.

"Also I guess, he gave people the courage and motivation, whether it's chasing a soccer dream or something else, he gave them that extra support to be like, 'I can do that, and I will'."

Outpourings from Canberra's soccer community remember him as a committed coach, who wanted to develop players' fundamental skills and was always jumping into drills to demonstrate.

Those who knew him, and were coached by him, remember his words from the sidelines to his players, always with an encouraging tone. "Can you get that ball up the line?" "Can you get in and fill that gap there?".

Wendy said he was a man of very few words but when he spoke they had impact.

"His life was work, family, friends and soccer and then we got two beagle puppies last year that also became his life. And if somebody managed to get inside that inner circle, then they were there and they were very special people too," she said.

Despite the best efforts of bystanders and paramedics, Darren passed away in the early hours of August 5 after going into cardiac arrest doing the thing he loved - coaching.