Monday, April 29, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
All the pieces fell into place for the inaugural Pacific FC game on Sunday afternoon, April 28. And the colour purple — one of the three colours from the sea-themed Pacific FC logo — has new instant association with one sport and one town: soccer in Langford.
Under sunny skies a year of planning, roster-building, coaching, training, business deals, marketing strategies, media rollouts, event coordination, merchandise development, and then ticket sales, created something more than a big brash home field soccer game.
With Sunday’s game, Langford sprang forth as a soccer town with a newly formed fan base and a more advanced sports administration network that has ignited the ‘national sports capital’ vision of Langford Mayor Stew Young. Sunday’s game set all that on fire.
There were 5,154 tickets sold for the historic game. Pre-game included hot food, cold beverages, a beer garden area, and various booths including of course where you could buy Pacific FC hats and hoodies. Stewie the Pacific FC mascot was making his way around the grounds as people mingled on the field and found their seats, as well as Canadian Premier League (CPL) and Pacific FC executives who chatted in the crowd.
With the singing of O Canada and a helicopter fly-past, the game energy revved up, accompanied at times by purple smoke and throughout the game by a background cacophony of random drum beats and the bleats of bagpipes.
On the field, the training practice of both coastal teams — Vancouver Island’s Pacific FC and Halifax’s HFX Wanderers — was evident. A few moments of play stood out with evident skill. The first-ever Pacific FC goal was scored by defender centre back Hendrik Starostzik (5) at 21 minutes into the 90-minute game. It was the only goal in the 1-0 game. There was strong action as well by Pacific FC forward Marcus Haber (9) and some ball-bending by full back Kadin Chung (7) who was the first player signed to the team back in November 2018.
Did the team gel on the field? “There was consistency and a big effort,” said Coach Michael Silberbauer after the game. “I was pleased with the performance.” He says the team has good chemistry and trained really well. Silberbauer moved with his family to Vancouver Island from Denmark this year to help build the Pacific FC team. His commitment is deep.
CPL commissioner David Clanahan was excited about developing the game across Canada. Building up the framework of referees and officiating as well as sports administration is “building an economy around soccer”, he told West Shore Voice News.
“Soccer didn’t have a clear pathway before. Now the game will grow exponentially,” Clanahan said with a beaming smile at half-time, adding: “This is now the fastest-growing game in the country.”
After the game, Clanahan said that Marcus Haber had a great game: “He ran miles!”. He was pleased about “getting some players off the bench” and how the referees “let them play, they let the game flow”. All the referees are local.
“And the crowds got into it. It was a really entertaining game,” said Clanahan, clearly pleased with the emerging potential of the entire operation.
“This was the best sporting event in Langford’s history,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young after the game. “We had over 5,500 fans and a great win topped it off. Even though we’re still in construction everyone from the volunteers to the city staff, contractor crews and sponsors pulled together to put on a fantastic sporting event,” he told West Shore Voice News.
“Also we need to thank the owners of Pacific FC — Rob Friend, Josh Simpson and Dean Shillington — for investing in Langford. The residents of Langford are big supporters of sports, and soccer is a great fit for our community and the whole island,” said Stew Young, who is seeing his vision of a sports tourism economy coming together.
“The fans were absolutely the best and their enthusiasm helped propel the team to their first win in their inaugural game,” said Young after the game. He was joined by members of City of Langford council and city staff for the opening game.
“Today couldn’t have been any better,” said Dean Shillington, Chair, Pacific FC. “We started a new business in a new town, and a new league. It’s a sellout crowd, the sun is shining and the team wins. How does it get better than that!,” he told West Shore Voice News after the game.
“The team has had a couple of months now, they’re gelling well. The workers and city and team pulled it all together,” said Shillington, clearly pleased with the success of the day.
The second game for Pacific FC is coming up May 1. “It’ll be a completely different vibe, a night game during the week,” said Shillington. “More of an adult crowd, fun party environment.”
The day’s event momentum was organized down to every detail by Pacific FC’s Executive Vice-President of Operations, Brad Norris-Jones. “I’m not okay with just okay,” he said, saying that excellence of the game day experience was a goal for the inaugural game and the overall rollout of all the games to come. He was pleased with the sell-out crowd. The game was sold out four days ahead of April 28.
The next home game is coming already this week on Wednesday May 1. But Norris-Jones has his sights set on the August 24 game as another huge party at the Westhills Stadium in Langford. Getting people excited about the stadium experience is what Norris-Jones was brought on to do. Behind him is his seven years of experience as the general manager of the Victoria HarbourCats baseball team.
The goal for this inaugural game was to be the “best show ever” at the stadium. There was the big Canada flag rollout, the non-stop drums, the purple smoke, the mascot, live music at half-time, autographs for young soccer players afterward, and so much more. “We’re making these games the best game ever,” he told West Shore Voice News.
Norris-Jones commended the City of Langford staff for helping work through the challenges of the 87 days leading up to game day, not the least of which was pushing along the construction of the stands.
Construction was completed well enough for declaration as ‘safe to occupy’ in the nick of time one day ahead of the game, said City of Langford Parks and Recreation Manager Cory Manton.
Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey said the fire safety plan was in place at least two weeks ago, though it had been a moving target given the construction of bleachers and VIP boxes still underway. The safety plan includes evacuation routes and procedures for staff to follow. Eventually the stands will have sprinklers. Security staff and fire department personnel were on hand throughout the game. From a safety management perspective it’s a unique structure because the stands are open-air.
Mira Laurence, Pacific FC’s Director of Communications & Partnership Relations and Pacific FC Director of Marketing Kadie Smith were on hand to help organize the media and marketing aspects on game day, along many other hard-working Pacific FC staff pulled off all the organizational details of the day.
The purple Stewie the Starfish mascot was active around the venue throughout the event, spreading his Pacific FC cheer.
After the game there was on-field entertainment, but none of the promised fireworks due to the open construction areas. That’s where all eyes are on the August 24 game which will also celebrate the opening of the adjacent City Centre Park and the Sarah Beckett Memorial Playground.
The Pacific FC schedule is online. There are season passes and single game tickets for sale online. The next game is on Wednesday May 1 at 8pm, with Pacific FC vs Valour FC. That game can be watched live online.
MEDIAPRO out of Spain is providing the live video coverage in partnership with CPL. During the Pacific FC game there was about a one-minute broadcast delay.
=============== MORE:
West Shore Voice News is proud to be a preferred media supporter for the Pacific FC experience. Write to subscriptions@westshorevoicenews.com to enter your name into the next draw for two center-field tickets to an upcoming Pacific FC home game.
Or send us a photo of your Pacific FC inaugural game day ticket for a 15% discount off your one-year digital link subscription (reg. $27.95+GST).