Friends, it was hot. So hot, that at one point, the 4th official turned to us during the men’s game and said “the soles of my feet are burning.”
Pirates on tour! Officially pirate-style, as a boat trip to Nanaimo closed out our regular season campaign. This one is circled on the calendar, because boats are fun, and Harbourside FC, who had their inaugural season last year, put on a good show. There’s food trucks and beer (and though we wish the beer wasn’t confined to the beer garden, there was beer). It’s a decent little venue, aside from the turf, which the club can’t do much about. It is also bereft of much shade on a hot sunny day. But a nice place to go to watch a game.
We headed over to Nanaimo early Saturday morning, with final positions locked in, and the only remaining question being who would our men’s team be hosting next Friday night in the playoffs. For the Nanaimo teams, their women were out of contention. The men – 2 wins in 24 hours would see them jump to 3rd place, with some help from the Whitecaps. A split of the 2 games would see them finish 4th, and this would be a playoff preview. Of course, having to play 2 games in 24 hours in 30+ heat is silly. But, here we are. We passed the Harbourside men before the game and wished them well on their big matchup with Unity the next day.
From our spot on the metal bleachers directly under the blazing Nanaimo sun, we watched the hosts strike early against our women. (Confession: I say “our” but I was still ambling around the outside of the field from the beer garden when the first goal was scored. So by the time I got there, said my hello’s and applied enough sunscreen to withstand a nuclear blast, we trailed 1-0). That’s all the scoring in the first 45, plus a bunch of water breaks.
Second half, the Nanaimo side doubled their lead, early again. The heat made it tough for everyone to keep the energy up. One of the Harbourside staff came over with a large beach umbrella, and helped us fasten it to the bleachers for some much needed shade. What a fantastic group running the show here. The Rovers made it interesting when Devon Kavanagh played a perfect high lofting wedge shot over the keeper from 35 yards away (thank you football lines!) But that’s ultimately how it finished. We look ahead now to next Friday night at UBC against the #1 seeded Whitecaps.
After the game, we made our annual Player of the Year presentation to our women’s team. Each season, we get dust off the electoral college and vote for one player who was great on the field and off. This year we chose super keeper Kirstin Tynan, who is a fantastic player, and person. Kirstin joins Claire Ye (2022) and Delana Friesen (2023) on the list for our women’s team.
On to the men, who due to injuries, and departures, look very different from the team that started the year on the southern part of the Island when we came oh-so-close against Pacific. Looking forward to the future, a bit. Meanwhile, the Harbourside gang, led by Golden Boot winner Billy Bagiopoulos, were fighting for their playoff lives. And the game went the way you thought it might. Harbourside struck first, second, and third, to lead 3-0 into the break. At one point during a break in the action, I chided Mr. Golden Boot about sharing some with the rest of the team, and he rightly pointed out that he set up the third goal. He’s alright, I guess, whenever he’s not playing us. The second half was rather uneventful. So as the final whistle approached, we sang “Courage, Rovers. We won the league it doesn’t matter!” The big prize was claimed. Now let’s get the proof of it.
The referee mercifully called it a day. Then, the League 1 boss, who may or may not have received some helpful, um, ‘feedback’ on playoff scheduling, handed over the brand-spanking new League 1 Championship trophy to Ali Zohar and Erik Edwardson. With only 1 name engraved on the front. 2024 TSS Rovers.
The players raised the cup. They sprayed some bubbly. They brought the cup over to our small group of sweaty, hot pirates. We lifted it. We cheered. Then, we went out on the pitch for a group photo with the gang. F**k me, that turf was hot. I felt like I was in a hot tub up to my knees walking around out there. Kudos to every player and official who got through that.
An on-field beer with the team ensued. The trophy was passed. High fives and handshakes all around. Then it was time to make our way for some food and a ferry home.
The air-conditioning in the Mexican-themed restaurant was a welcome treat. We ate, we drank, nobody mentioned the scores from the day. Just the trophy, and the upcoming playoffs. (Quick travel note for those visiting Nanaimo. The Hullo ferry terminal shows about a 15 minute walk from downtown on Google maps. It is much longer than that. The large parking areas are gated shut. Just take the shuttle.) After a brisker walk than anyone would have wanted in the last of the Island sun, we made the ferry with minutes to spare. Never in doubt. Then we settled in for a return to downtown Vancouver.
We avoided fireworks crowds in Vancouver by minutes. We avoided the rush of Whitecaps fans leaving BC place by 1 train. We are the Champions. You’ve got to scroll all the way back to the top of the page to even remember what the scores were.
It was a good day.
Sorry if we couldn’t retweet much. We were a bit busy celebrating.
2024 League1 BC Champions 🏴☠️
— TSS Rovers Football Club (@TSSRovers) July 23, 2024
Earning our third Canadian Championship Appearance. #WeAreRovers #TogetherOne pic.twitter.com/PcHyV5NNBI