They’re not only national champions, but they've also accomplished something no other club has done before.
Burnaby FC teams, including a large number of players from the North Shore, won gold in both the U17 boys and U17 girls divisions at the Canada Soccer Toyota National Championships held Oct. 4-9 in Moncton, N.B. Never before in that tournament has the same youth club won the boys and girls groups in the same age division in the same year.
The boys and girls teams have supported each other for years and were cheering for each other throughout the tournament, said Rio Yassin, a West Vancouver native and captain of the boys team.
“Our technical director [Lee Tregonning], he had two gold medals around his neck. That was pretty cool to see,” Yassin said with a laugh. “That was kind of the dream. One night we had dinner as a whole club in Moncton and I had to give a speech, and the speech was ‘I can’t wait to see gold medals around all of our necks.”
Representing B.C. in the tournament, the girls went a perfect 5-0 in Moncton, clinching the national title with a thrilling win over Alberta’s Calgary West FC in the final. The two teams ended the game tied 2-2, with Burnaby FC pulling out the win with a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks to earn gold at Croix Bleue Medavie Stadium.
Moments later the boys hit the same pitch and earned the same glory, capping off an undefeated tournament with a 2-0 win over the Alberta representatives from Edmonton BTB SC.
Hearing the final whistle blow was “pretty surreal,” Yassin said.
“All the hard work, it felt like it paid off in that moment,” he said. “Of course you go to your buddies right away – all the hugs and tears of happiness. It’s that sense of accomplishment with all the rainy practices, all the snowy practices and all the driving, all that, it felt like ‘we did it.’ It paid off.”
A number of players from North Vancouver and West Vancouver started playing for the club years ago when it was known as Mountain United, a joint North Shore and Burnaby team playing in the BC Soccer Premier League. The club recently shifted solely to Burnaby and took on the new name after North Van FC joined the BCSPL, but NVFC does not yet field a team at that age group, so the U17 North Shore players stuck with Burnaby FC.
North Shore players on the boys team include Yassin, Justin George, Nick Belben, Logan Wickstone, Eric Town, Elias Bejaoui, Caden Ruby and Joseph Hare-Goss, as well as Charlie Smith and Joey Buchanan from Squamish. The girls team includes North Shore players Taryn Hunter, Giulia Falorni, Cassia Crozier, Amelia Bodie, Kaitlyn Takeuchi, Katie Connell, Bella Connell, Lily Bouvier, Malala Rabesoa, Orla Heather, Brinley Bjornson and Daira O’Keeffe.
The switch to Burnaby meant more travel for the North Shore-based players, but it did nothing to diminish the team bonds created over the years together, said Yassin.
“We like to call ourselves family – we do a family chant before every game, because we are really close on the field and off the field,” he said, adding his thanks to all of the coaches, team officials, and particularly family members who supported them over the years. “All the support has been so amazing. … A lot of our friends and family came to support us in Moncton as well, which was fantastic.”
