An early 1980s exhibition match at Timberlane Park pitting Vancouver Whitecaps against Powell River Villa sparked a lifelong interest in soccer for 10-year-old Chris McDonough.
“I’m pretty sure we lost,” said McDonough, who currently coaches Powell River’s Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL) team.
Starting out as a young player in local youth soccer, McDonough said the experience of watching a team he looked up to play against the big guys from the city gave him the soccer bug.
“Powell River had a strong soccer program when I was growing up,” said McDonough. “There were a lot of good players to learn from.”
After spending 15 years in Vancouver playing at the amateur level, he came back to his hometown club. In 2012, Villa dropped to division three and had trouble maintaining a steady roster. It was for the 2013 season that McDonough decided to retire as a player and start coaching.
“When I took over there was talk of [the club] taking a year off. I wanted to help rebuild the team and get back to second division,” said McDonough.
It took three seasons with him at the helm, but Villa is now holding at seventh place in VISL division two with half a dozen matches to be played this season.
Part of the success of developing the team has been to focus on incorporating players coming out of youth soccer and keeping them in the league, said McDonough.
“We put in the time with local players even if we can find better players out of town and try to develop them the best we can,” he said.
Out of the 30 players signed, it is natural for the club to lose six or seven per year due to players either moving away or being injured. A lot of his time as coach is spent filling holes when work commitments or injuries take priority, said McDonough.
Now, 15 or 16 players come out at training sessions, which did not happen three years ago, he added.
Assistant coach Dean Thorsell runs and plans training sessions, drives the van for road games and helps with recruiting players.
McDonough is quick to give credit to the other coaches and players who have put the time in to make the club what it is today.
McDonough and Thorsell came on as coaches around the time the team was “dying off,” said Thorsell. “Chris and myself brought some life back to the team and motivation toward keeping Villa alive,” said Thorsell. “We just really pride ourselves on working harder than any team in the division.”
Along with building on the local soccer program, Villa has been creative with finding young talent to add to the roster. International players attending Camber College with experience playing at a higher level, including a Spanish student who played professionally in Spain and players from Columbia, Japan, Korea and Mexico, have all been part the team.
“That really helped us win the league last year,” said McDonough. “We’re always on the lookout for quality players who show up in Powell River.”
McDonough cited a network of people who keep their ears open for new players to keep the calibre high and push current players. The most rewarding thing about coaching is seeing the club succeed, he said.
With a resurgence of players in youth soccer, Villa is establishing an under-21 club, which may get off the ground this year or next, said McDonough.
Three Villa players were recently named division two all-stars, including Thorsell, Nick Vant Schipp and Kurtis Dennison.
