Our goal is and has always been to foster excitement for the sport we're passionate about. We bring our friends to the pitch and make new ones while we're there, uniting fans under our banner to support our team. We have always taken every opportunity available to grow our numbers and our voice with varying degrees of success over the years.
In keeping with that spirit, we are very excited to support the newest addition to Victoria's soccer landscape - the new Canadian Premier League team, Pacific FC.
Playing at Langford's Westhills Stadium - the very same pitch where the Lake Side Buoys were formed and home of the "lake" that gave us our name - Pacific FC promises to provide an experience that Vancouver Island has been lacking: a professional sports team of our very own.
Going forward, the Lake Side Buoys will be the broad tent that welcomes everyone, doing all we can to further supporter culture and enhance the game day experience. The Board of Directors have been hard at work restructuring our organization in preparation for the inaugural CanPL season and we'll have many exciting announcements to make in the near future. Does this mean that the Lake Side Buoys will be discontinuing our organized game day support of the Victoria Highlanders?
Absolutely not.
While the USL Premier Development League may have just been re-branded as the USL League Two, the Lake Side Buoys are still very committed to the idea of #Path2Pro. Our soccer fortunes, as an island, a region and a country, will rise or fall based on our ability to foster and develop the talent within our communities. For years, the Lake Side Buoys have organized our Supporters' Choice Player of the Year Award, contributed to (and occasionally held on to) the Juan de Fuca Plate competition, provided noise, chants, tifo, smoke and support, all for the benefit of our beloved Highlanders.
While every fan on Vancouver Island is greatly anticipating Pacific FC's kickoff early next year, it is my pledge as President of the Lake Side Buoys to continue our commitment to supporting local soccer by never allowing us to forget where we came from. It is our privilege to be the home of supporters for both Pacific FC and the Victoria Highlanders, following our teams as they lead us into a new future.
You are invited to join us.
- Jason Armond
President, Lake Side Buoys
