Steve Hodges has a passion for soccer and building teams.
He developed his keen interest for the game while growing up in England and watching the players from the English League.
Hodges came to Canada in the 1970s and settled on Vancouver Island full-time in 1989.
"When I came to Vancouver in the 1970s, there wasn't that much interest in soccer like there is today," Hodges said.
His passion for the game has led to a new club being formed in the Vancouver Island Soccer League.
Hodges is now the president and main financial backer of Westcastle Soccer Club. He also receives sponsorship money from Western Financial Group. His vision is to have five or six teams under the Westcastle umbrella all playing in the VISL.
Two years ago, a Masters Over-35 team from Juan de Fuca came on board with Westcastle. This year, there is a Westcastle Under-21 squad and a Division 4 entry in the VISL.
"I have been around soccer a long time and I know what it takes to make a successful team," said Hodges. "You need good coaching, practice fields and places to play your home games."
The Westcastle idea came from summer soccer, which is not part of the VISL.
"We've had a summer team for about 20 years and some of the players wanted to stay together. We had guys from various divisions and some of them had to move down to Division 4. They decided to stay with us because we were well organized.
"When I was able to reserve the practice field at Pacific Institute of Sport Excellence on Thursdays for two hours, that was a little too much for a Division 4 team. That was when I added the Under-21 team, knowing that it will be a feeder team for us.
"My overall goal is to create a club with teams in all the divisions and then have the Division 1 team win the Jackson Cup. That would be a dream come true."
The three Westcastle teams have been perfect so far with an overall record of 9-0. Longtime Juan de Fuca player Scott Strickland coaches Westcastle's Division 4 team and has them at the top of the standings with a 4-0 record. They square off against Cadboro Bay tonight at 7 p.m. on their home park at Goudy Field in Langford.
The Westcastle U-21 team is guided by Mike Pawlak and has won both their games. They travel to Lakehill (Braefoot) for a 4 p.m. game today.
The 3-0 Westcastle O-35s, coached by Hodges, are off this weekend.
"On the Under-21 team, most of our players are 18-years-old or younger. They have been very good in the early going, including a victory over the Under-21 Victoria Highlanders."
Some of the other more established clubs in Greater Victoria, such as Gorge FC and Vic West, have clubhouses but Hodges says it is too expensive right now to go that route.
"It would cost too much money to acquire the land and build the clubhouse,'' said Hodges. "And you have to staff it and many of them lose money. My idea is to have a mobile clubhouse - a bus with a television inside. We could travel with it, change in it and then socialize after games.'' rrauch@timescolonist.com
