The Victoria Highlanders: Playing in the Canadian Championship 2024
VICTORIA, British Columbia — Fans of the Victoria Highlanders will be closely following their Canadian Championship preliminary round match against Pacific FC on May 1st. How will the underdogs from the local amateur league take on the professional team? Could this be the proverbial David and Goliath story unfolding before enthralled spectators?
The Highlanders Men’s Coach Steve Simonson started as Assistant Coach when the club was formed in 2008, becoming Head Coach in 2012, and working with the club on and off since. He rejoined in 2022 when the club joined the newly formed League 1 British Columbia, the semi-professional men’s and women’s soccer league. We spoke to Coach Simonson, asking him what we can expect from the upcoming match against Pacific. “There are different levels in cup football, both professional and amateur with the Canadian Premier League and League 1 in Canada,” he explains, “So the nature of play is that you might be pitted against a team you might not usually play against. It’s a fun scenario where an underdog story can be created. We’re just going to play the game and see what happens!”
Coach Simonson also shared a little about preparations for the upcoming season of play: “We haven’t finalized our line-up. Most of our players are university students and they will come together at the end of their semester at school. We plan to recruit last summer’s squad and put together a training camp to prepare for the game.” Simonson also pointed out the difference between amateur and professional soccer: “We have a completely different set up from Pacific whose team has been together for over a month and have been preparing since the beginning of the season. It’s a different scenario for both clubs.”
Keeping the team from last year together is key for Coach Simonson as those players know the team’s approach and how they play. Other pre-match tactics includes scouting Pacific’s current form. Simonson explains, “As Pacific will be different from last year, we’ll want to come up with a game plan that we think will best give us the best chance at success. As the underdog team, our priority is to challenge them and not allow them to feel too comfortable. We also have to make our chances. We must be wary of them first, but we have nothing to lose, so we’re just going to take our time and hope we can cause an upset!”
In his many years of involvement, Coach Simonson is heartened to see how the Victoria Highlanders have grown and evolved as a club, navigating the various changes in the club soccer landscape in the region. “This is a community-based, amateur-level club,” he tells us, “And to see it start and transition, and to see how it has grown, to the point of us playing in major league soccer, is really special for me. It’s a testament to the club’s longevity. What’s also great for me in this particular game on May 1st, is that there are kids on the team that I’ve coached since they were 13 years old. That’s a highlight for me to watch these players who’ve been playing for a long time.”
There are also many connections among players and coaches on both the Highlanders and Pacific, and Coach Simonson points out that the Vancouver Island connection means that whatever the outcome, an Island team will move forward in the Canadian Championship.
We wish Coach Simonson and the Highlanders team every success in the upcoming season!
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.
