The Victoria Highlanders begin their 11th season, tonight at Centennial Stadium against Lane United of Oregon, in changed circumstances.
After a decade of serving as the highest brand of soccer on the Island, the Highlanders begin a new era in a secondary role in a market they once ruled.
The advent of the professional Canadian Premier League, and with it a CPL Island franchise in Pacific FC, has altered the soccer landscape dramatically here and across the country.
But each level in sport serves its purpose, and that of the Highlanders’ team really hasn’t changed much. Its goal remains to elevate players to pro levels — which it has done most recently with alumni in the CPL such as Ryan McCurdy and Nolan Wirth of Pacific FC and Peter Schaale of Halifax Wanderers and with Callum Montgomery taken fourth overall by Dallas FC in the 2019 MLS draft.
What has changed is the name of its U.S.-based league. The former United Soccer League Premier Development League is now USL League 2. It remains the USL’s amateur division behind the USL Championship League and USL League 1 professional levels.
Montgomery, McCurdy, Wirth and Schaale are good examples of the opportunities the Highlanders hope to offer aspiring young players. That’s not to mention the springboard provided to previous-generation alumni such as Brett Levis of the Vancouver Whitecaps, USA-capped Matt Polster of Rangers and Canada-capped USL pro Jamar Dixon.
Case-in-point are the three Pacific FC trialists, who didn’t make the Island CPL pro team during training camp, but who have been placed with the Highlanders for further development.
“We have a good relationship with Pacific FC,” said Highlanders head coach Thomas Niendorf.
(The closest relationship between CPL pro and USL 2 amateur teams within a market, however, is between Cavalry FC and Foothills FC in Calgary).
Among the trio of Pacific FC trialists sent to the Highlanders for seasoning is 19-year-old defender Elyad Shojaei.
“My pro dreams are not over, yet. Sometimes, it just takes longer,” said Shojaei, who moved to Vancouver from Iran at age seven, and graduated from high school soccer with the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts.
“[Pacific FC head coach Michael Silberbauer] said he wants to see me improve in one-on-one situations. Being with the Highlanders is a good opportunity to keep developing and preparing to jump up to pro soccer.”
It will be a busy weekend for Shojaei, who also leads the Rino’s Tigers of the Vancouver Metro League into the Province Cup championship game Sunday in Nanaimo.
It is the measure of the Highlanders program that it can bring together players from different winter clubs and give them a summer development opportunity in USL 2. That includes five players from Niendorf’s Vancouver Island Soccer League Jackson Cup-champion Westcastle United team. Those players, including 19-year-old Keenan Colley, 17-year-old Jonathan Walter and 16-year-old Jackson Cup MVP Goteh Ntignee, are also part of Niendorf’s Pacific Soccer Academy program.
“We have a good mix of academy and university players,” said Niendorf.
Among the latter is 20-year-old third-year player Jack Hill from the University of Victoria Vikes.
“Keenen [Colley] and Jack [Hill] are really two very exciting young players with good pace and technical abilities,” said Niendorf, a native of Berlin, who retains numerous soccer contacts in Germany.
“They are both eager to take the next step in their development opportunities and are looking forward to some professional opportunities in the future.”
Joining Hill from Canada West is Sam Fletcher of Victoria from the UBC Thunderbirds and British player Josh Banton from the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack while former University of Fraser Valley Cascades striker Daniel Davidson comes across from TSS Rovers.
Adding international flavour is 20-year-old midfielder Alec-Michael Petrizzi from Dunedin, Florida, who signed with Victoria after starring in the NCAA with the University of Massachusetts Minutemen.
Relative youth, however, remains an issue for this edition of the Highlanders.
“We will miss the experience that Peter Schaale and Cam Hundal brought and will be younger than last year,” noted Niendorf, in his second season at the Highlanders’ helm.
“But there has been a good atmosphere and good mentality among this younger group and we will play at tempo with a very high work rate. We will get on the ball and pass and attack but will also be properly organized at the back.”
Among players to watch will be former Vancouver Island University Mariners defender Aly Adib, from the Mid-Island Mariners of the VISL, who has played on the Egypt U-20 team. Another Highlanders player with pro ambitions is former Whitecaps Residency performer Victory Shumbusho of the UBC Thunderbirds. The 2017 Canada West conference rookie of the year moved to Canada with his family six years ago, as refugees from the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Shumbusho graduated from Burnaby Central.
“Victory is a player who can definitely add goals to our team. He has good pace, is powerful and he can be a real handful,” said Niendorf.
“Victory is a good character and high mentality player and fits the mould of player that we want to work with.”
The Highlanders are hoping Victory leads to victory in 2019 after three seasons of missing the playoffs.
Victoria begins its 14-game season in the USL 2 Northwest Division with four home dates. After tonight’s opener against Lane United of Eugene, Oregon, are games at Centennial Stadium against Portland Timbers U-23 on May 19, Seattle Sounders U-23 on May 26 and Lane United on June 2.
The first away fixture for Highlanders is June 7 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby against the TSS Rovers. The Highlanders’ regular season concludes with two games in Calgary against the Foothills on July 12 and July 14.
