Gun victim Randy Robinson has been highly spoken of by his former coach at Canada’s Cape Breton University.A keen footballer, Mr Robinson is mourned by his coach and former team mates on the Capers men’s soccer team, where he played for one season in 2009.Mr Robinson, 22, returned to Bermuda from Canada for the birth of his son, now two years old. He continued to play football and was a midfield player with North Village Rams when he was gunned down on March 31.Capers head coach Robbie Chiasson estimates the university has been attended by ten to 12 Bermudian students over the last five years.“I have a vested interest in Bermuda and I’ve been down there a few times to visit and recruit. I don’t want to say that Bermudian parents are sending their kids overseas to be safe, but some parents have said their kids are in neighbourhoods with gang members and they just want to get away from it. So I think there’s an element of truth to that.”Mr Chiasson said there were currently five Bermudian students playing football at Cape Breton. Often reticent about life in Bermuda, the athletes have opened up more about troubles in neighbourhoods back home in the wake of Mr Robinson’s murder.“It’s been difficult for them, because they’re so far from home. We’ve heard about violence increasing there, and some of the kids have apprehensions about what they’re going back to.”He added: “Some of our guys have said that as athletes they have felt safer.“Maybe now because this has happened to a footballer, the violence seems like it’s crossed over.”Mr Robinson’s killing has also sparked great interest in a small Canadian community popular with Bermudian students, Mr Chiasson said.“Because it happened on a Thursday, we didn’t really pick up on the news until this week. My phone’s been ringing off the hook with people from the newspaper and radio. Kids seem to enjoy the pace of our lifestyle here, which is laid back like Bermuda’s, and we’ve had a great partnership with Bermuda over the last few years. So there has been a lot of local sympathy for these Bermudian kids here.”The coach was quoted in Tuesday’s Cape Breton Post as saying: “It is tough to be a young person there. These guys don’t even want to go home, really. They know that life is good here and there is a lot of violence at home whether you are in a gang or not.”However, Mr Chiasson added: “I’ve been to Bermuda a few times and I love it. Most people have the impression that Bermuda’s safe, and people don’t usually see Bermuda painted as a violent place.”Of Mr Robinson, he said: “We only have a ten-week season up here, so I didn’t know him really well. I remember Randy as very upbeat and positive. That was him, always smiling soccer brought out the best in Randy, and there was no worry about motivation when he hit the pitch. I’m sure he was a great father, too. Once he was on the field, he shone the most.”Useful web link: www.cbu.ca, www.caprebretonpost.com.