Harbourside FC will kickoff their debut League 1 season on Saturday, April 29 in Nanaimo. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

opening whistle

Nanaimo soccer players ready for ‘another level above’ as Harbourside FC debuts

Apr 29, 2023 | 8:04 AM

NANAIMO — Kickoff is here on the region’s newest sports franchise.

Harbourside FC will hit the pitch in League 1 competition on Saturday, April 29 with a pair of games against Langley-based Unity FC. The women play first at 3 p.m. with the men following at 5:30 p.m. All home games are played at q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium, formerly NDSS Field.

It’s a level of soccer new for Nanaimo and an expansion of an immensely popular sport on the mid-Island, with the competition drawing some of the nation’s best young talent.

“League 1 is another level above, or a couple of levels above for the reason being that a lot of the players are uSports level players or higher NCAA players, then you add the graduated and more experienced players from those programs,” Bobbie Taylor, Harbourside women’s coach said.

In addition to homegrown players, internationals are also featured on League 1 rosters, including at least one women’s player coming from Japan.

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The exact makeup of rosters is still up in the air for both squads, but the coaches have a good idea of how things will look.

Taylor said they have a very athletic team with proven individual track records, but the biggest question mark will be getting everyone onto the pitch and working together cohesively.

“The makeup is predominately, players that are from and around Vancouver Island. Fourteen players are from VIU but there are players Jazmine Wilkinson who’s coming home from Texas A&M, Gillian Stewardson who went to [Point] Park in Pittsburgh.”

Harbourside’s coaching staff say they’ll lean on experience from their players, many of whom have played playoff or national championship games in a bid to steer the team through some tense opening games.

The Harbourside men’s team will play the late game in all home dates for the franchise this season, opening up against Unity FC at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The story is similar for the men, who will also field a mainly local team with some players joining from Calgary, the Lower Mainland and Victoria.

Men’s coach Kevin Lindo told NanaimoNewsNOW they’ve also recruited several players who grew up and learned the game overseas but are now Canadian residents.

Overall, about 70 per cent of the squad is from or has spent considerable time in Nanaimo.

“We have some really good leaders who have been part of some of my programs for a while now. I’m also really interested to see some of the guys who grew up in this area who are still young, but have had to look in different parts for this level of play and all of a sudden it’s in their backyard.”

Having a League 1 franchise based in Nanaimo has already helped make the city more entrenched on the global soccer map.

Lindo said he fielded calls and inquiries from overseas players looking for a spot.

He added the key for the coaching staff was to pick the best 20+ players to play the way he wants them to play.

“Expect us trying to get on the front foot, trying to play good football, football on the ground and getting our exciting players involved. Then being very organized out of possession then hoping to catch our team in areas where we can get the ball and put it in the back of the net.”

Among the competition in League 1 are TSS Rovers, who Harbourside will meet in mid-May.

Earlier this month, the Rovers became the first Canadian semi-pro team to knock out a fully professional squad at the Canadian Championships, when they beat Valour FC 3-1.

Training on Thursday, April 27 involved putting the final touches on preparations for the new season, the first of its kind in Nanaimo. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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