The University of British Columbia Okanagan Men’s Soccer team — the UBCO Heat — recently came to Nelson as part of its pre-season preparations, sharing their camp with and playing matches against local teams of young players and alumni.
The team’s August 4-5 visit — under the leadership of head coach Dante Zanatta — was in recognition of the quality of facilities, the strength of the local soccer community, and the talented players being developed through Nelson Soccer and the Kootenay United Football Academy (KUFA).

Brett Adams, Technical Director of the Nelson Soccer Association and the Kootenay United Football Academy’s director, said the visit offered local players the opportunity to learn from one of Canada’s top university programs, and highlights the growing reputation of soccer in the Kootenays.

“Throughout their stay, UBCO players worked directly with the young athletes, helping inspire the next generation of soccer players in our region,” he said.

For the occasion, KUFA and Nelson Soccer put together an U17-18 team, which took on the UBCO team on the Tuesday night, August 4.
“It was a well-matched affair,” Adams said. “Dante brought a squad of 23-24 players, and got every one of them out on the pitch. There was a lot of interchanging, so he was using the game for that reason. But the game ended 4-2.
“But the boys really put on a show. They never stopped working, and play against a team of that calibre, and to keep working, and put up some points was pretty awesome.”

Game 2 on the Wednesday night, featured an alumni team who battled for 90 minutes, even though the final score was 5-1 UBCO.
The sidelines the over the two nights were packed with spectators of all ages. “And the kids were there,” Adams said. “The six- and seven-year-olds came out to watch the UBCO and the young Nelson players. It was pretty inspirational.”
Zanatta was extremely happy with the two nights’ work his team got against the locals, Adams said.

“So much so that he’s looking at future opportunities to come back and play again.”

”It was great to come to Nelson for a couple days and play two games and expose the community to the level of U sports at the start of our preseason,” Zanatta said of his team’s visit.

“Being able to do a small camp with the young players was a bonus thanks to Nelson soccer and Brett for setting it all up and we look forward in hopefully doing it again.”

The visit of the UBCO men’s soccer team, and its interaction with the local players and associations, is indicative of growth of soccer in Nelson and across the Kootenays.

“The universities are starting to see how much talent that is being created in area,” Adams said. “The [local] clubs are doing a great job in terms of making sure they’re keeping up to standards with Canada soccer.

“But more importantly, we just currently launched in Nelson the Kootenay United Football Academy. “This allows anybody in the region to come and be trained by our professional staff.

“The reason why the UBCO program picked us is because they knew the work we’d been doing on that specific academy — some of the players had asked for evaluations — they knew of the work we’re doing.”

Youth soccer development in Canada is at the forefront of sports conversations, especially in light of the recent World Cup, which Canada co-hosted. And university soccer in this country is a vital pathway for young players to take their game to a higher level.

“University soccer in Canada is pushing in the right direction,” Adams said, “Every kid across Canada that loves soccer; their first dream, of course, is to be a professional player, but the next dream is to secure a scholarship in a college or university.

“And I’m proud to say that the Kootenays now, specifically the Nelson area, we’re seeing twos, threes and fours every year that are going on to different programs across the country.”
KUFA was founded around the high quality soccer infrastructure already in place in Nelson.

We identified that we needed to do something,” Adams said. “We’ve got coaches with the highest qualifications in world soccer to people who’ve come in through the Canada soccer stream. So we really are pushing forward, and we wanted to share that with the region.”

The KUFA football club has players coming in from across southeast B.C. — from Cranbrook, Fernie, Invermere, Trail, Castlegar, and elsewhere in the Kootenays.

“We are a locally based organization; however, we have bigger ambitions for all those players,” Adams said.
“And all the associations are working together. We’re finally coming to the table to say it’s about these players, it’s about providing opportunities. It’s going to require a lot of commitment from those players that don’t live in Nelson. But at the same time they’re seeing the benefits of it.”

KUFA recently confirmed their player evaluation dates — at the moment there are almost 200 players from around the region who want to be evaluated by the academy.

“It just shows you how much it really is booming,” Adams said.

Evaluations take place at the end of August in Nelson.

As to the UBCO visit earlier in August, it stemmed from a visit this spring. The local Nelson soccer association had brought Dante Zanatta, Head Coach of the UBCO Men’s Soccer Team, to Nelson in April, to do some coaching development workshops. He worked with players and coaches, and did a presentation to parents on what it takes to play at the university level.

“Dante noticed there was something really special happening in Nelson and area,” Adams said.

At the end of the trip he asked Adams if they would be interested in him bringing the UBCO team in for a camp

“I would like to thank Dante for bringing his team along and giving our players the opportunity to compete, learn and challenge themselves. It was a fantastic experience for everyone involved, and we really appreciate the time, effort and support Dante put into making it happen. It’s these opportunities that help our players grow both on and off the field.”