Prominent members of the Kamloops sports community are calling for the construction of new indoor soccer facilities following the city’s success in hosting and winning the Men’s U-Sports National Championships in November 2022.
Kamloops City Council unanimously approved the spending of $1,000,000 earmarked for the Build Kamloops Initiative. The initiative aims to improve and build an array of facilities within the city, such as a performing arts center, a leisure pool, and a large curling rink.
Although city councilors haven’t been vocal about the need for a new indoor soccer space, many in the Kamloops soccer community are. On Oct. 27, the Kamloops Sports Council (KSC) will be starting discussions to decide which facilities are most pressing. Although it’s yet to be determined if they will focus on soccer, they will be pitching ideas about what is next.
The 1993 Canada Summer Games in Kamloops elevated the city’s status as the tournament capital of Canada, a reputation bolstered by the opening of the Tournament Capital Centre (TCC) that was created due to a 2003 referendum.
After moving away early in life for pro soccer and university, TRU men’s Wolfpack soccer head coach John Antulov returned to his hometown in the midst of this tournament capital referendum.
“What a perfect opportunity. We’ve always held tournaments, Kamloops has always been a great city for welcoming people in,” Antulov said. “There were definitely a lot of people that didn’t want it, that thought it would be too expensive — but I think it was the perfect thing for the city of Kamloops.”
With buildings like the TCC, the Sandman Centre, and the Tournament Capital Ranch, Kamloops ranked second in all of Canada in a 2020 report from Sport Tourism Canada for cities in its population bracket, in proficiency when hosting sports events. These facilities were used for training during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and annually for the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions training camp. Illustrious events like the Memorial Cup, the Scottie’s Tournament of Hearts, and the Brier have also called Kamloops home. However, Antulov said he feels more needs to be done on the Soccer front.
“Number 1 is a full-sized indoor soccer facility — from a soccer perspective but also multi-use. Because I think if you look at the winters here, fields are closed mid-October and don’t open up again until mid-April,” Antulov said.
Antulov said that during the offseason, local athletes don’t have enough indoor soccer facilities to hold full-sized games often. Although Kamloops fields are typically closed in winter, TRU has hosted the Men’s U-Sports National Soccer Championships in both 2017 and 2022. Antulov said that the organizers did an amazing job of ensuring the field was plowed and prepared. The final was decided on a night when the temperature got down to -4° celsius, and although there is one indoor soccer facility in Kamloops, Antulov said that more needs to be done to facilitate training and events in the winter.
“It’s very difficult, you only have one turfed field with lights. I would say we need at least 3 to 4 indoor terfered fields with lights,” Antulov said.
Dino Bernardo, facilities committee chair at the KSC shares this sentiment. Born and raised in Kamloops, Bernardo has been involved in sports management in the city since he was a teenager. In addition to his KSC duties, Bernardo helps Antulov with his Wolfpack club, by assisting with background issues like finding athletes’ residences and amenities.
Bernardo said that a large indoor turf is key not just for soccer players but for other users as well. The Wolfpack had to start their 2023 season on the road and the annual BC Lions’ training camp at Hillside Stadium, was stifled this year as excessive wildfire smoke forced the athletes indoors. Bernardo said that a large indoor turf field, like the one Antulov is vying for, would prevent this in the future.
“We haven’t built anything in a long time and the city is recognizing that we need to upgrade facilities and add to facilities so that we can keep that tournament capital moniker,” Bernardo said.
On Oct. 27, the Kamloops Sports Council will be starting discussions to decide which facilities are most pressing. However, Bernardo said that this process will take time.
“How many more soccer fields do we need? Do we need more soccer fields? Do we just need more turf fields? Do we need just more lights on our fields? So that’s what the whole discussion is gonna be,” he said.
Their recommendations will then be passed to the city council who will have more say in determining where the money goes.
“I’d assume, [we will] spend a year figuring out what we need and at that point, it’s going to have to go to referendum. I think the goal would be at this time next year to be voting on something,” Bernardo said.
Both Antulov and Bernardo said that what sets Kamloops apart from other Canadian cities, isn’t the facilities — it’s the the people. Both were emphatic that volunteers and organizers often go above and beyond to ensure that tournaments go off without a hitch. Regardless of whether or not their indoor soccer facility comes to fruition, they’re excited for the future. Antulov put it plainly:
“We’re trying to turn Kamloops into a soccer hub.”
Based on the national tournaments and success in Kamloops, the Wolfpack coach seems to be accomplishing his goal. With increased spending coming to grow the city, and passionate members of the soccer community on the sports council, lovers of the game may be seeing some encouraging announcements over the next year.
