Powell River Villa opens the 2023/2024 Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL) season on Saturday, September 9, and the team is looking forward to continuing its run in Division 1 of the league.
“While we were in the relegation zone at the end of last season, we remain in Division 1 for this season,” said Chris McDonough, Villa’s manager. “We are a team that’s going to continue to get better each year, even as some of our players turn over as they head off to university. While it’s going to be tough to fill their shoes, we’ve got some promising young soccer players coming up, and a great core of players continuing this season.”
Villa has been practicing since early August, and both veteran players and younger players from Powell River’s youth leagues have attended the twice-weekly practices, even in the heat.
“While we still have room on the roster for players, we’re happy with the starting 11,” said Tony Leach, Villa’s coach. “We still need more depth on the bench, though, because as the season goes on, injuries, illness and family commitments can impact how many players are available. We’re looking at different ways of getting that depth, for example, via affiliations with different U23 and U21 teams on the island, and signing players in Victoria to help enhance our road lineup.”
Villa played two pre-season exhibition games in Comox on Sunday, August 27, against Division 1’s Comox Valley United and Division 2’s Campbell River Golden Wings. Villa swept the series, defeating Campbell River 3-0 with goals from Jack Padgett, Griffin Leach and Rio Crystal, and downed Comox 2-1 with goals from Jacob Duyvestyn and Griffin.
“It was good to meet Comox on the field, as they’ll be our opponents for the season opener,” said Leach. “While the exhibition games were only one hour, it was good practice for the team, and we’re really starting to gel together.”
Comox will journey to Timberlane Park for the season-opening match on Saturday, September 9, with kickoff at 1:30 pm. The game will be the VISL Game of the Week, and VISL executive and official photographers will be in attendance.
There will also be a variety of 50th anniversary events taking place during the weekend, including a Villa Alumni game preceding the season opener at 10:30 am at Timberlane.
“We are hoping for a large crowd for the game and the other 50th anniversary events,” said McDonough. “We want to show the VISL executive how passionate Powell River is about league soccer, and how much we have the community behind us every year.”
Villa began VISL play in 1973.
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