Reid Davidson died of his injuries Thursday night after being hit 24 hours prior by a vehicle travelling the wrong way down the Nanaimo Parkway, with an allegedly impaired driver behind the wheel. (Harbourside FC photos)

By Alex Rawnsley

do it for reid

Harbourside FC wrap regular season in tribute to fallen team member

Jul 23, 2023 | 10:11 AM

NANAIMO — It was supposed to be a weekend of celebration however Sunday’s final Harbourside FC game will have a more sombre tone.

The team wraps their inaugural season hosting Altitude FC at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium on Sunday, June 23, however planned events took a tragic turn after team staff Reid Davidson was severely injured in an incident involving an allegedly impaired driver along the Nanaimo Parkway Wednesday night.

Davidson, 24, ultimately died of his injuries in hospital leaving behind a gaping hole in the local community. Jason Coates, Harbourside executive director, told NanaimoNewsNOW everyone knew Reid as Nanaimo United’s member services coordinator and one of the founding members of Harbourside.

“He virtually dealt with almost everyone, whether it was by email or on the phone. That was from the U4’s all the way up to the adults. He played on the adult team, he played for four years I believe at VIU, many of the players on both [Harbourside] teams were his contemporaries.”

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, consideration was made to cancel Sunday’s fixtures or at least postpone them.

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However the players have decided to play on, for Reid, and treat their final weekend as a celebration of life for someone Coates said was “one of the nicest guys you would ever meet.”

“We’ve wanted to take their lead, you can imagine they’re reeling but they then started to plan slowly and think about what they wanted to do and they have decided to honour Reid in a very respectful and thoughtful way.”

Coates praised the community support, includes services on hand from Vancouver Island University, to help those affected by the tragedy.

A moment of silence will be held prior to the games as a way to pay tribute to Davidson, with Coates saying the players felt it was “almost all they could handle” under the circumstances.

Harbourside’s mens team kicks off at 1 p.m., with the women at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the front gate of the field with proceeds going to the Davidson family.

A debut season for the franchise has had mixed results for both teams. The men have a record of one win, four draws and eight losses this season and are a point ahead of Altitude for 7th place heading into the weekend.

The womens team were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday, July 22 and will finish fifth and have a record of 5-2-6.

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