The Victoria Highlanders will have an Island derby in League1 B.C. as Harbourside FC will become the eighth team in the men’s and women’s soccer circuit beginning next season. The Harbourside male and female teams will play their home games on the Nanaimo District Secondary field, which will have 1,500 seats installed for the inaugural season next summer, with plans envisioning 3,500 seats in future seasons.
“Given the rich history of the sport in this area, and the youthful energy of a growing region, we want to create a festival-like experience during match days,” Harbourside FC executive-officer Jason Coates said in a statement.
Coates said the team hopes to draw fans from Ladysmith, Chemainus, Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino: “It’s very important to us that Harbourside FC is not exclusively a Nanaimo team, but that neighbouring ‘harbour’ communities from both sides of the Island, feel a sense of ownership toward this club.”
League1 B.C. began play last season. On the men’s side, it represents the level below the professional Canadian Premier League, which includes Island-based Pacific FC, and which was established in 2019 as Canada continues implementing a soccer pyramid to match the pyramid system used by nations around the world.
League1 B.C. is classified as “semi-pro” and is on the same level as League1 Ontario and the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec, meaning that its men’s champion club will play annually in the Canadian Championship for the Voyageurs Cup with the eight CPL teams and the three Canadian teams in Major League Soccer in the national competition.
Harbourside FC will join the Highlanders, who play out of Centennial Stadium, Vancouver Whitecaps Reserves, Altitude FC of North Vancouver, UBC Varsity FC, TSS Rovers of Burnaby, Unity FC of Langley and Rivers FC of Kamloops.
League1 B.C. is considered an opportunity and stepping stone for top players coming out of U Sports.
“We are proud to welcome men’s and women’s semi-professional soccer teams to Nanaimo and look forward to contributing to the ever-growing success of soccer in Canada,” Nanaimo mayor Leonard Krog said in a statement.
“These young athletes and leaders will provide role modelling to our youth, and in turn Nanaimo and Harbourside FC will provide them with a pathway as they transition from community soccer to their professional careers.”
