The Beautiful Game could be coming to New Westminster as the Vancouver Whitecaps are pursuing plans to bring professional soccer to Queen’s Park Stadium.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the City of New Westminster signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to work toward launching a United Soccer Leagues (USL) pro franchise in New Westminster.
“We are thrilled to announce our efforts with the City of New Westminster to bring a new professional soccer team to its vibrant sports and family oriented community,” said club president Bob Lenarduzzi. “A USL PRO franchise in our own backyard is an important step in our efforts to support the development of players, especially young Canadians, at every level by bridging the pathway to our Major Soccer League team, as well as the national team.”
Lenarduzzi said New Westminster is an ideal place for the USL pro team because it is central and is a vibrant community. While the Whitecaps are “very excited” about the potential of bringing a team to New Westminster, he said other cities have expressed an interest in hosting the team.
If the project proceeds, Queen’s Park Stadium would be the franchise’s site. In addition to the current Whitecaps FC ownership group, the franchise will be co-owned and operated by Ian Gillespie of Westbank Projects Corp. and New Westminster native Gary Pooni of Brook Pooni Associates.
“I am very proud of the fact that I was at the World Cup in 1986, but 1986 was a long time ago," Lenarduzzi said. "We need to get back to the World Cup. One of the things that we are working on … is a co-ordinated plan to give our best young players the opportunity to develop at the international level. I am not suggesting simply because we start this particular program that that will come in four years, but we need a place for our best young players to play.”
If the application is successful, the club could launch its first USL PRO seasons in March 2015. The Whitecaps are working to a Sept. 15 deadline from the USL to put in their application.
Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks, culture and recreation, said consultation will get underway immediately.
“This is really exciting times in the City of New Westminster,” Gibson said. “Our community has been experiencing a re-emergence in the Lower Mainland, being seen as a place to live, a great place to work and a great place to play. We are thinking this potential opportunity with the Whitecaps is just going to be the icing on the cake.”
Gibson said the project could not only benefit the local community but also raise the city’s profile in the region and the Pacific Northwest.
“This is just the beginning,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do over the next several weeks in terms of communicating with our community, with our local sports groups, seeking their feedback and getting that.”
Gibson said it’s been a long time since Queen’s Park has had a major sports franchise, like the New Westminster Bruins. He said the proposal may require a reconfiguration of the field at Queen’s Park Stadium.
“It’s a historic site. The stadium itself dates back many, many, many generations. It has a long history and legacy of sport and sport development,” he said. “Particularly with some of the owners of the Whitecaps' organization, they recognize that intrinsic character that is there with the street, the city, the history of sport development as well. In addition, the size of the stadium is just the right size for this type of venue. There’s nothing worse than having a sporting event where you are in too large of a facility or one that’s too small. Queen’s Park Stadium is the right facility in the right city at the right time.”
Gibson said the community will expect to have an opportunity to offer input into the process.
“At the end of the day, I think our residents will see this as a great opportunity, both for the Whitecaps and the City of New Westminster,” he said.
According to Gibson, the Whitecaps would be the primary user of the field but they would not be the exclusive user. It would still be made available for high-level soccer teams in the community.
Gibson told The Record the city needs to do its due diligence in terms of the technical side of the proposal. He said soccer and baseball teams use the stadium field equally, so the city would be looking at developing an alternative venue for baseball.
Peter Van Garderen, a member of the Royal City Youth Soccer executive, said about 2,000 kids play soccer in New Westminster. The club also contributed $200,000 toward the Queen’s Park East all-weather field, but still has to vie with field time with soccer, field lacrosse and other sports groups.
Royal City Youth Soccer is excited about the potential “soccer focus” at Queen’s Park Stadium and potential benefits for local soccer players.
“This is great news for soccer fans, soccer fans in New West obviously,” he said. “Let’s hope it means more facilities. One thing that could happen is the Whitecaps come down and have a great facility and the kids end up peering over the fence of the field. That won’t help the kids. As a soccer fan, that’s fantastic – you can go see games.”
Van Garderen said the community needs to put its “visionary cap” on and see how the propels can be made to benefit local residents and athletes as well. Ideally, he’d like to see a soccer specific complex built at Queen’s Park so soccer teams don’t have to compete with other sports groups for field time.
