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Whitecaps FC Community Asset Review – Part 3

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Editors’ note: Kurt and John are firm believers that Vancouver can and should be the Canadian epicenter for growing the sport and culture of soccer football soccer. This is a self-described healthy community. We can play outside year-round, as fields are rarely closed due to snow and/or freezing. And, most importantly, Vancouver is the place to expertly develop the sport of soccer because our city’s team, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, shares this goal and so demonstrates this vision through its Club Structure and the Whitecaps Foundation, which aims to create the fittest generation of BC Youth by 2020.

As Vancouver Whitecaps FC season ticket holders, Kurt and John are well-positioned to evaluate how the franchise showcases its commitment to “be a significant community asset” – so, following every match we will reflect on this commitment by answering two questions, which are below. Sometimes we bring friends and/or family-members to the game. And sometimes those awesome friends and/or family-members write awesome blog posts about the experience.

Here is our brand-new (and youngest) Correspondent, Josie Buter’s, take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC being a significant community asset.

Josie Buter - current and future world changer

How is the team a significant community asset?

The Whitecaps FC games bring people together, for example I went to the game against Kansas City and before the game I got to take part in a parade to the stadium with the Southsiders. They had chants and giant flags with the players’ faces on them, some people knew the chants and others didn’t, but it didn’t matter because you could still clap along to the rhythm of the drums they brought with them. The cheering didn’t stop outside the stadium though, throughout the whole game there were ringleaders that lead all the cheers. The whole experience was very exciting and I’ve never experienced anything quite like it before.

WHAT COULD MAKE THE CLUB AN EVEN BETTER ASSET?

Now that the men’s team has success in a higher level of soccer, where are the women? When I was younger I went to many of the women’s Whitecaps games and looked up to the players on the team, they were role models for me. For young girls it’s important to have role models, and when playing soccer it is good to have a picture in your head of what a player who plays your position or plays on a competitive team looks like. Having a local team, that would play all year ‘round would give many young soccer players hope that they can achieve their goals as well, no matter the size of the net.

Octopi Falls 4-3 in Bronze Medal Match

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This Soccer Ball Reflects on the Fourth Place Finish for Octopi Vancouver

[Editor's note: for the record, our Wednesday night soccer experience began with five members of the Octopi Vancouver team moving the goal into position - basically setting up the field - as two administrators/supervisors from Urban Rec stood right next to this activity and sipped their coffee and made terrible jokes, which begs the question: what do our pricy Vancouver Urban Rec fees actually pay for?!]

On a crisp, clear Wednesday night at Thunderbird Stadium, a substitute-sparse Octopi Vancouver squad went down 4-3 against a very chippy The Scoring Machine “team” – other accepted synonyms for “team” in this description might include “gang” or “hooligans” or “Postmodern Peles” (the last one is my personal favourite).

The Octopi squad began the game with vigour and urgency, hitting goal posts, crossbars and narrowly missing the corners of the Scoring Machine’s net. About 10 minutes into the first half, John Horn, making a great run down the left side in the third-person, crossed the ball squarely on to the foot of dashing right-winger, Jessica Pautsch, who expertly looped it into the top corner, away from the sprawling – and quite talented as well as handsome – keeper.

1-0 Octopi.

The first half wrapped up with Pautsch on a break-away – if there were actual referees (perhaps Kinesiology students from SFU or UBC, you know, to tackle youth unemployment and student debt in BC while simultaneously providing meaningful experiential learning opportunities for the future leaders of our healthy and happy community) I’m sure that the play would have been allowed to carry on – but the non-game-specific whistle blew and Jessica wasn’t allowed to snipe her second goal of the match.

Still 1-0 Octopi.

The second half saw Octopi drop into a 3-2-1 defensive formation, which was a dumb idea, as The Scoring Machine earned a quick tally following a strong run down the left-side by one of their nicer players. In between their first and second goal, The Scoring Machine’s centre defender, Long Sleeved Black Shirt, absolutely throttled Octopi’s star striker, Erin Loxam – again, if UrbanRec employed referees the gentleman might’ve been asked to leave the game at this point.

1-1 draw.

After a blazing goal kick by The Scoring Machine’s handsome goalkeeper, All-Urban-Rec defender, Matt Kieltyka, whiffed on the ball and one of the opposing team’s players sprinted in for an unopposed goal.

2-1 The Scoring Machine.

Following some intense pressure by Sustainable Stewart Burgess and Prautsch, a The Scoring Machine pass, deflected by Prautsch, found its way to Horn’s foot – the striker made no mistake, burying the shot in the back corner. As Horn said to Kieltyka later, “karma was on our side, man – they caught a break, and so did we, because the universe wants us to win.”

2-2 Octopi (yes, we were winning).

On the heels of their second goal, some great passing between Kurt Heinrich, Kieltyka and Roger Hosking finally got the ball to under-appreciated/utilized star striker, Loxam, who promptly netted her 27th goal of the season with impressive aplomb.

3-2 Octopi.

This is where things got weird.

First, there were the antics from a bald and bearded talker from The Scoring Machine side – in no more than three minutes he took an illegal shot on goal from the post-score-kickoff, attempted to throw the ball into the net (it was a legit throw-in, but still weird), yelled at the Octopi team for diving and whining, proceeded to dive and whine himself, knocked down Burgess and Hosking at least twice, and started a goal-mouth scrambled that resulted in The Scoring Machine’s third goal. Following this experience John Horn, talking in the third-person, loudly referred to the gentleman as “The Postmodern Pele” – #amazing.

3-3 The Scoring Machine (they had the momentum and, thanks to their ample substitutes, the legs).

Only moments later, Heinrich made a stomping run down the right side and sent a perfect cross to Horn, who was waiting at the far post. Horn, in the third-person, chested the ball down and sent a cracking half-volley at the goal, which was expertly stopped by The Scoring Machine’s keeper.

The chippy play continued with Long Sleeved Black Shirt sweep-kicking the ankles of star striker Loxam – again, if there were referees in the game this player/goon would (a) not have even been in the game at this time and (b) would have been put in his place by an official, instead of an Octopi player, making a call – when Loxam said “you fouled me” the player/goon responded “no I didn’t, you slipped; now stop whining and get up.” #notaclassact #payforrefs

With little time left, Postmodern Pele got involved in another goal-mouth scramble and, somehow, the ball crossed the touch line in spite of a great effort from League MVP David Willinsky.

4-3 The Scoring Machine.

The Octopi Vancouver squad wrapped up the season with an impressive 5-4-2 record and a fourth place finish in their first season together. Other teams in the Urban Rec league best keep on the lookout for this up-and-coming soccer football powerhouse. And the Urban Rec organizers/management best be on the lookout for a strongly worded letter and pending petition that addresses their knowing sacrifice of health, safety and fun for slightly awesomer profit margins.

Great season, team!

Fidel Vila – The Spanish Hurricane

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Who are you?

A guy who loves  being around his family.

Psychiatry is a passion of mine, and I am fortunate to practice and teach at both Saint Paul’s Hospital and UBC Hospital; also, I combine my clinical work with research on mental health.

What do you do for fun?

I am a relentless soccer player, and a photography enthusiast. Since my first daughter was born, however, I can spend hours just witnessing the wonders of live reflected in her development. It might have something to do with sleep deprivation, but when I’m around her the notion of time and space often seem to get on hold and I can submerge into a pure here-and-now moment. Frank Cottrell, a British writer, once said that family is probably the only distraction that makes you feel virtuous when you surrender to it; and I couldn’t agree more.

What’s your favourite community and why?

Even though I have lived most of my live in large cities and feel comfortable living in them, there is something reminiscent of my childhood that I can only experience whenever I spend time in small communities. It is difficult to pin-point what it is, but I sense that a special connection between people happens in such communities. The Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast are places in BC where I have had such experiences.

What is your superpower?

This is rather mundane, but I have recently been told that I am a people’s person.
Reflecting on this recent comment, I realized that I have always seen myself as someone who enjoys listening to people around me, and that has allowed to create meaningful connections.

How does your superpower help you build community?

A great deal of what a can be accomplished as a community relies on the strength and meaningfulness of the relationships its members create among themselves.

Patient and active listening seems to be a good ingredient to promote the above.

My Three Favourite Things About Fidel Are…

1. Phenomenal soccer prowess.  There’s a reason that we (or maybe it’s just me…?) call him the Spanish Hurricane. It’s not just his ball control or killer spinning shot that makes him great. It’s that way he moves and passes and sets his team-mates up that makes him truly inspiring. When Fidel’s on the field, you know he’ll make you somehow pull off beautiful plays. It’s inspiring to play with so a generous a player.

2. His sympathetic and kindly manner. Here’s a guy who exudes warmth and thoughtfulness. He’s the type of person you feel you can trust and who general aura gives off a kinship. This might be something that you’d think would be a given as a psychiatrist. But with Fidel, it isn’t professional; its personal.

3. Commitment to helping his community. Be it his hard work writing grants to raise money for the Portland FC, his thoughtful suggestions at countless organizing meetings or the hours he devotes to coaching and mentoring street soccer players on the court – this is a guy who’s committed to his community and giving back to it wherever possible. And that’s just his volunteer stuff. His day job is to help those suffering from all sorts of mild and severe mental illness find their way in life.

Special Bonus Reason #4. He makes an amazing Spanish tortilla!

As told by Kurt Heinrich…

Whitecaps FC Community Asset Review – Part 1

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Editors’ note: Kurt and John are firm believers that Vancouver can and should be the Canadian epicenter for growing the sport and culture of soccer football soccer. This is a self-described healthy community. We can play outside year-round, as fields are rarely closed due to snow and/or freezing. And, most importantly, Vancouver is the place to expertly develop the sport of soccer because our city’s team, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, shares this goal and so demonstrates this vision through its Club Structure and the Whitecaps Foundation, which aims to create the fittest generation of BC Youth by 2020.

As Vancouver Whitecaps FC season ticket holders, Kurt and John are well-positioned to evaluate how the franchise showcases its commitment to “be a significant community asset” – so, following every match we will reflect on this commitment by answering two questions. Here they are:

How is the team a significant community asset?

Well, the ‘Caps beat the Impact 2-0 and you should read the wise words of my main man Simon Fudge for all the great details.

As this is the first post about the first game, well, I’ll keep it short and sweet. Vancouver Whitecaps FC demonstrated its role as a significant community asset by the way the team brought together people of different shapes, sizes, cultures, ages, neighbourhoods, and (kinda) socio economic statuses to enjoy a spirited match of very good soccer played by men from dozens of communities around the world.

Any time thousands of people high-five each other, sing songs together and embrace an opportunity to meet new people the event that makes this happen is an asset to our community. And this was the scene at Bell Pitch at Telus Stadium in BC Place on Saturday. And it was a beautiful thing.

What BIG IDEA will make the club an even better asset?

Here’s the idea: break the BMO Banking/Sponsorship hegemony!

BMO is “the official bank and a proud fan of Vancouver Whitecaps FC” and one of the club’s founding partners. The bank is also hedging its bets in terms of MLS support, as its logo adorns the uniforms of both the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC. Further, Toronto FC plays at BMO Field. So, is BMO really a proud fan of the Whitecaps? Or is the company just a proud fan of strategic cross-marketing opportunities?

Vancouver is a different kind of franchise in a different kind of city, which is why our recommendation for this week is for Vancouver Whitecaps FC to strategically align itself with Vancity Credit Union. One particular piece of cool collaboration between the ‘Caps and Vancity could be ongoing support of Vancouver’s Street Soccer League – some of the Whitecaps players have already trained with homeless players from Portland FC and Vancity funds many of the services, programs and places upon which Street Soccer players rely. I mean, how cool would the Vancity logo look on the uniforms?!

Vancity is all about economically, socially and environmentally healthy communities, which certainly jives with the goal to create the fittest generation of youth by 2020. So, think about it, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Vancity. You’re made for each other!

Octopi Regains Momentum with 3-1 Win

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After a unsatisfying victory last week, the Octopi squad were hungry for a cleaner and more decisive win this Wednesday when they took the field against Right Back on the Bench (RBOTB). It was a cool evening at Thunderbird. Although the Octopi was missing star defender Brenton Walters (who was rumoured to be contemplating a trade to a South Vancouver team), the team felt confident.

Their confidence was reinforced when within the first two minutes, the team flew into RBOTB’s half and set up a gorgeous goal by star striker Erin Loxam. The crowd on the sideline went wild with chants of “Loxy, Loxy!” After a few more dangerous thrusts into their opponents goal area, momentum of the game gradually turned against Octopi. RBOTB players turned on the afterburners and consistently managed to win 50/50 balls. Gradually the game shifted against the boys and girls in pink. After a throw in from the far side of the field, RBOTB’s long haired star managed to streak past the Octopi defence and sneak a goal past all-star keeper David Willinsky to bring the score back to 1-1.

Commentators aren’t sure what sort of pep talk happened during the break, but at the second half, a whole new pink team came on the field. More talking and a fiercer determination to make the ball their own paid off. Passes were as crisp as you’d see in an MLS game. Quick passes back and forth kept the RBOTB’s team running circles. Then a foul in the box allowed striker John Horn to nail a penalty kick putting Octopi ahead 2-1. Later in the second half of the game, one of RBOTB’s dirtiest players turned over the ball in the box and star striker Erin Loxam was able to capitalize hammering a goal in at close range and making it 3-1 Octopi.

Late in the game things started to get chippy. Both sides were going hard in and tempers started to flair. When the final whistle was blown, there was a collective sigh of relief among the non “type A” personality players. The win puts Octopi in the top four of the league and sets them on a course to take on Nomads FC – the team of British whipper-snappers who destroyed them in their inaugural game of the season.

Octopi manager Kurt Heinrich says the team isn’t intimidated in the slightest.

“We’re actually looking forward to a rematch with Nomads FC,” says Heinrich. “This time, it’ll be different.”

Octopi Underperforms in 2-1 Victory Over Turfinators

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Nobody left the pitch happy on Wednesday night. Not the Turfinators (they lost 2-1). Not Octopi Vancouver (they/we should’ve won 8-0). Not the UrbanRec official (Octopi may have lost its sportsmanship award).

Many of the Octopi team members – except Jen, Jess and Nicole, whose positive energy and team spirit were awesome and semi-contagious – left the field in angry states that truly ran the gamut of sensation; from Erin Loxam’s “we could’ve done a lot better” to my yelling in the car on the way home things like “I had the whole right side of the net wide open and shot it right at the goalie because I’m an idiot” and “those guys couldn’t control their bodies and almost hurt a lot of people with their goonish awkwardness.”

But enough about that. What about the soccer football?

Roger Hosking started the scoring on a one-timer – which was also a cracker – off a gorgeous heel-pass from centre-midfielder and Architect at Large, Stewart Burgess. The onion bag bulged and Octopi got off to a fast start.

The Turfinators answered back quickly, as White Socks – their one All-Star-caliber player – weaved his way through our entire side and then sniped a perfect snipe into the top corner of League MVP David Willinsky’s goal. Colanders contain water better than our team’s collective defensive effort contained White Socks on that play..

The next 20-30 minutes unfolded as an exercise in goal-mouth futility for the Octopi side, who had no fewer than 87 exceptional scoring chances that unfolded not as goals, but as near misses, huge misses, incredible misses, goal-post-bounce-offs, shots right at the goalie, shots right at the sideline, shots right into the sprawling legs of defenders, and, yes, shots backwards, too.

Luckily, the team’s savior, Roger Hosking, came to the rescue with a well-timed strike that beat the Turfinator keeper with ease – Roger did a neat thing by not shooting the ball 10 meters wide or right at the goalie. Well done, good sir.

By the end of the evening, the Turfinators’ unintentionally chippy play (they put me on my butt at least five times and absolutely flattened our star striker Erin Loxam) and Octopi’s collective inability to put more balls in the back of the net resulted in the vocal presentation of some heated and biting feedback at the opposition players and an UrbanRec official that may or may not have come from the author of this blog post.

Allow me to stand on my soap box for just a moment: players and officials, when an emotional competitor who frustratingly underachieved during the game and is upset with himself apologizes to you for his inappropriate behaviour, don’t tell him to keep his mouth shut and then say something else that can’t be repeated on this blog. A happy and healthy community this does not build. At the end of the day, it’s just sports!

Oh, one last thing. League MVP and Vancouver Whitecaps back-up goalie, David Willinsky, also made a win-saving stop with about 10 seconds to go in the match. Amazing.

Editor’s note: a special thanks to Jen for her enduring positivity – as I reflected on my life choices and poor performance at 2AM on Thursday morning, your kind words and enlightened spirit made my frustration melt away.

Octopi Destroys Team Keggers with 4-1 Win

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It was a big night for Octopi Vancouver. After a disappointing tie game the week before, the team was raring to snatch back some momentum. Indeed, Octopi’s  Facebook page said it all: attendees were there to win, not tie. With that it mind, it wasn’t surprising to see the team’s amped up enthusiasm on full display at Thunderbird Stadium last Wednesday.

Despite missing its promised calisthenics pre-warm up warm up, the team wasn’t rusty at the start. After loosing the rock-paper-scissors game for the ball due to misplaced confidence in “rock”, the team settle back to defend where possible. Though Keggers was missing a woman and playing short handed, the Octopi squad decided not to show mercy. Like a terminator, they’d be going in for the kill.

The game was quick paced, but relatively clean. It quickly became clear to both sides that owing to impressive skills, strong team cohesion and superior team espirt de corp, Octopi’s would be dominating. The passes were crisp and the flow of the game favoured the good guys (ie. us). Here are a few highlights:

  • A gorgeous header by striker Erin Loxam from a long ball from the left wing by striker John Horn. The play has been labelled henceforth as “Cobra”. Urban Rec teams beware.
  • Fantastic goal-tending by stand-in Obi, who had some terrific saves during both halfs and did a fine job of standing in for all-star Octopi keeper David Willinsky (sources close to the keeper say he’s likely to be back on the pitch next Wednesday)
  • Terrific defensive play by Matt Kieltyka, Brenton Walters and Roger Hosking. Their  strong play on the back line ensured loose balls (or loose balls with players attached) were quickly shut down and cleared well out of bounds (sometimes so well that Kegger players had to go rooting through bushes).
  • Fantastic pressure by Octopi left winger Kyla Kieltyka and new winger Nicole Seguin on the opposing team. The persistent pressure and constant play-making helped shore up the midfield and keep the ball distribution from defense to offense steady.\
  • Great ball distribution by mid-fielder/defenseman/forward Stew Burgess. His moves were, at times, Pele-esque.

Unlike the previous game, communications among Octopi’s squad continued throughout the game and the end result meant lots of back pats and laughter when the final whistle was blow. The win puts Octopi solidly in the middle of the pack and within striking distance of the top couple spots.

Analysts say that as the team increasingly starts to gel, amazing things will likely start to happen on the pitch – if not during this season, certainly the next one when the team will move to a new league and new challenge at Trillium field.

Portland FC to Take on Vancouver Police this Friday

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A big soccer game is on the horizon and it isn’t the Vancouver Whitecaps or Octopi Vancouver that are playing. This Friday, the Portland FC and Portland Phoenix, two of Vancouver’s top Street Soccer teams, will be locking horns with the Vancouver police department. Both sides are confident and they should be. Last year’s tournament at Andy Livingstone was a neck and neck game. The cops were big and (contrary to popular perception) clad in red, not blue. They were also as fast as roadrunners and in the end, despite a fierce game, the speed and skills paid off with a 4 – 2 win for the cops on a VERY rainy Friday night.

This year’s game will be Friday, February 24 at Trillium field at 4 PM sharp. Both teams are gearing up for a fun game. Portland FC and Phoenix in particular are looking for supporters to come out and support the team. If that’s you, make sure you show up and help cheer us to victory. If you’re cheering for the cops – that’s ok too. We’re not THAT competitive (wink).

Octopi Brings up Farm Team Blue Chippers to Earn 1-1 Draw

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Thanks, Katie@! and Flickr Creative Commons

With General-Manager-Coach-Director-of-Public-Relations-Starting-Centre-Defenseman Kurt Heinrich away at an undisclosed honeymoon location, an under-staffed Octopi Vancouver squad called in some favours and called up some enthusiastic talent from the team’s junior league squad, The Soccer Balls. Thanks to Blaine, Chris, Beau, Jess, and Andrea for your stellar contributions – and sorry for any name-related spelling mistakes…

It was a mild and dewy Wednesday night under the lights of UBC’s Thunderbird stadium. And we played some soccer. Against another team. They were called “Totti Hots Purr” and there is a good chance that they cheated en route to a 1-1 draw against an Octopi squad that, in addition to enduring probable cheating, struggled to control play in the middle of the field and failed to capitalize on some really good scoring opportunities.

Expertly backstopped by All Star goaltender David Willinsky, Octopi dominated the first half. Soccer Generalist and Everyman, Brenton Walters, worked the middle of the field and the sidelines with new recruits Jess and Andrea to near perfection – only a few misstrikes (it’s a word), an off-the-post-header, and, as I mentioned before, probable cheating the their opponents, saw Octopi race through the first 10 minutes without notching at least two goals.

And then John Horn – following a great header from New Guy Chris (who, incidentally, refused to sport a bright pink Octopi kit … no judgment …) and a great attacking run in the third person – ping-ponged the ball past two defenders and half-a-goalie before cracking it into the back of a half-empty-net. Things looked good for Octopi.

Now back to the cheating. Look, all I’m saying is that, from the sidelines, it looked as though the Totti Hots Purr player – after being pushed to the turf by our team during an intense goal-mouth scramble – hand-passed the ball to a teammate who kicked it into an empty net. Like I said. Cheating.

In the second half, Octopi sat back and played a little too much of a dump-and-chase game, which resulted in the other team #winning a lot of the midfield play. There was really only one chance in the second half and it was for Totti Hots Purr, but League MVP David Willinsky splayed his body across the goal and robbed the THP sniper of what he – and his misplaced track-pants – thought was a sure goal.

Looking forward, Octopi hopes to continue gelling with a skilled team nucleus that has yet to play together this season. And when it does, look out Urban Rec. This is a team that has as much talent as it does chemistry as it does a dumb name with hilariously awesome pink uniforms.

Octopi Ends 2 Game Losing Streak… Decisively

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It was a cool day on Wednesday out at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium. Octopi was taking on Multiple Sportosis in its third Urban Rec soccer game this season. The stakes were high. The past two games had been crushing defeats. The first game against top-ranked Nomads FC had been a devastating 6-2 loss.

“They broke our back early on in the first half,” said striker John Horn. “After that we just didn’t have a chance.”

The next game was equally grim. Out-manned (not to mentioned out-womaned), Octopi was again able to score early on only to get out run by Turf Stains. The ol’ “no sub cause we be mad skilled strategy” the team was forced to deploy due to a shortened roster meant by the second half, many of the team were lumbering about the field like dinosaurs. The end result, a 4-1 loss, was a bitter pill to swallow for the new expansion team.

Despite two tough games, Octopi came roaring out of the gate this Wednesday displaying a mix of hard strikes and rock solid defense that the team’s manager Kurt Heinrich says he’d always expected.

“From the get go, I always new there was something special about this team. The defense is almost impossible to breach, especially when we’ve got Walters and Hogkins anchoring the line,” says Heinrich. “This is the Octopi the fans were promised and with a little luck, this is the Octopi we’ll be seeing in the future.”

The game started with a series of terrific goals from Octopi strikers Erin Loxam and John Horn. Mid fielder Kristina Pikksalu made beautiful plays happen. Keeper David Willinsky ensured nothing slipped through and into the net.

After the team identified Multiple Scorosis’ primary danger (the tall blue shirted guy), they were quickly able to neutralize the opposing side’s offense.

The end result, a 5-0 shutout for Octopi, put the team on the scoreboard and was a signal to the rest of the league that the pink shirted crew would not be fodder for an easy victory.

The next game will be Wednesday, February 8 against Totti Hots Purr.