A term heard often in sports is about “getting to the next level.”
The Pacific FC players got to experience the next level on Friday in an integrated training session with the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer at UBC Thunderbird Stadium.
“We’re not far off,” PFC general manager and CEO Rob Friend said of the Canadian Premier League.
He could point to Calgary’s Cavalry FC of the CPL upsetting the Whitecaps in the 2019 Canadian Championship tournament, this country’s equivalent of England’s FA Cup.
The Whitecaps and PFC received permission from the province for the cross-strait training session.
It could be the start of a deeper relationship, when normalcy returns, between the only two pro soccer clubs in B.C.
“We see a lot of synergies between us and the Whitecaps, from developing their young players, and playing exhibition games,” said Friend.
Friend added it’s “100 per cent” that PFC and the Whitecaps will play pre-season friendlies in the years ahead.
Such games would be much bigger deals at Starlight Stadium, the former Westhills Stadium, than they would be in Vancouver, so they would likely become an annual Island fixture.
PFC will also have the chance, every year, to meet the Whitecaps — and also Toronto FC and CF Montreal (formerly Impact) of MLS — in games that count in the Canadian Championship.
“We look forward to meeting the Whitecaps soon in games that matter,” said Friend.
Until then, Friday’s friendly run-through will suffice.
“We are fortunate to have an MLS team in such close proximity so we can meet up with them and keep our players training competitively,” said Friend, a former Bundesliga pro who was capped 32 times for Canada.
“Our players [looked] forward to sharing the pitch with the Whitecaps.”
PFC is set to open the CPL season on May 22.
Only the start date has been announced, with the schedule yet to be released.
The CPL is an all-Canadian league which faces no cross-border issues. But MLS does. The Whitecaps will open on April 18 in a home game against the Portland Timbers to be played in Sandy, Utah. The Whitecaps have back-loaded most of their home dates with 13 of the 17 home games scheduled between July and November.
“The majority of our home games will be after June, so we remain hopeful that we will get to play in front of our fans at B.C. Place once it is safe to do so, as we continue to work closely with the government, health officials and MLS,” Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement.
The eight CPL teams and three Canadian MLS clubs will play in the Canadian Championship, with dates to be announced.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
