Never before has a soccer season in Nanaimo started with this kind of limitless potential.
The new Harbourside FC men’s and women’s soccer sides are about to begin their League 1 B.C. seasons with matches Saturday, April 29, against Langley’s Unity FC at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium.
Harbourside FC, owned by Nanaimo United FC, is an expansion club in League 1, a semi-professional league. The league is connected to higher-tiered men’s leagues, so the best League 1 teams have a chance to come up against professional teams in cup play.
“It’s going to be a lot of work and it’s a long way down the road, but there’s that potential there for Nanaimo and for Harbourside to compete in the Canadian championships, and who knows, end up with Toronto FC or Vancouver Whitecaps or Pacific FC or somebody rolling into Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium down there,” said Daragh Fitzgerald, Harbourside FC’s technical lead. “So it’s exciting times.”
League 1 started in 2022 and Nanaimo was the only successful expansion entry in 2023, bringing the circuit to eight teams – two on the Island, one in the Interior and five on the Lower Mainland.
Harbourside was able to attract Vancouver Island University’s two coaches, Kevin Lindo and Bobbie Taylor, and most of the roster was put together early this year at evaluation sessions. Some of the players on the men’s team include Billy Bagiopoulos, Jonathan McKenzie and Alex Dedame, while the women’s team includes Cara Dunlop, Jazmine Wilkinson, Jade Dillabough and Shea Battie.
“Both teams are sitting at pretty full rosters and both looking like they could be quite competitive in League 1, which is cool to see,” Fitzgerald said.
Jason Coates, Harbourside FC’s executive officer, said there are a lot of current and former university players on the rosters, and the league is designed as a bridge from high-performance youths to professional adult players.
“It’s really providing that continuation and opportunity to continue to drive players to the highest level they can reach…” he said. “Most of the players are going to be from Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Powell River, Campbell River, and these are opportunities they just never would have had before, to play at this level.”
He said it gives players new ways to look at the local “soccer landscape” and be able to aspire the professional ranks.
“To go all the way through from a ‘happy cleat’ under-four, all the way up to a semi-professional soccer player all without having to leave Nanaimo is incredible now,” said Fitzgerald.
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It starts with the historic first-ever regular-season matches this weekend.
“It’s going to take a little bit of time for them to jell together and find their feet, but once they do, they’ve got some great coaches and some great leadership and some really, really good players on those teams and they’ll be competitive for sure,” Fitzgerald said.
GAME ON … Harbourside FC takes on Unity FC on Saturday, April 29, at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium. The women’s match is at 3 p.m. with the men’s match to follow at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youths 7-18 on game day, or $15 for adults and $7.50 for youths in advance at www.harboursidefc.ca/tickets.
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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