News

Posted 2/2/2023

Ref # 125

February Update

VISL Membership, just a couple reminders as we get into February and everything gets even more competitive.

1)Before we do, I wanted to send something out on behalf of the VISL Board.

It is an informational bulletin from BC Soccer that talks about Bystander Intervention in Sport.

We are just seeing too much abuse from the sidelines.

Thanks to ViaSport for offering.

People are experiencing harassment and abuse coming from the sidelines - there are things you can do as a bystander.

Please take a couple minutes to read the bulleting (click on link below) and take the training course.

We could see this becoming a requirement in the near future.

https://visl.org/upload/doc/ViaSport%20Bystander%20Intervention.html

It just has to stop folks, there is no room for it - including racial and homophobic slurs.

Besides it being the right thing to do, sanctions for these types of things are heavy.

Book your session - https://www.viasport.ca/news/free-training-bystander-intervention-sport

2)Reminder about Cup Scheduling and Regular game scheduling discussed at Semi Annual meeting.

-A- If you are a team that advances in Cup play, and you will be the home team in the next bracket, you have a duty to submit the information to the League (vincentgreco@shaw.ca) about your next home game. This must be done by 12 noon on the Monday morning leading up to that Cup game. Failure to do so will then give the opposition an opportunity to be the home team and host the game when they decide.

-B- Expect to be playing every weekend. As teams get knocked out of Cup, we will reschedule games that are outstanding. We will give, at minimum, 72 hours notice before game day. The goal is to give even more time if possible.

3)Provincial Cup.

As teams qualify, you will be sent information that is required from BC Soccer. Stay tuned.

4)Fines & Fees (As discussed at Semi Annual Meeting)

We do not expect to chase people for fines, nor do we want to hold Teams or Clubs accountable.

To avoid all the extra hassle, all $ owing must be paid and processed before your Cup game.

We suggest 24 hours in advance.

Failure to have the fees and fines paid will then result in a game forfeiture.

5)Banquet & Awards Night

Save the date - it will be Friday April 14/2023

The Wicket Hall, which is the remodeled space in the basement of the Strathcona Hotel at 919 Douglas St.

Cocktails at 6 PM.

We have a ton of sponsor support and we enjoy passing on some great swag and prizing to our members - we cannot do it without them.

Good luck in Cup play and the rest of regular season.

Vince Greco

VISL Executive Director

www.visl.org

(M)250-889-1213

(T)@vincenzo25

(I)vancouver_island_soccer_league

Posted 1/3/2023

Ref # 124

Semi-Annual Meeting & CUP DRAW

The meeting will mostly be about the Cup Draws, so here are those brackets for easy access.

The Sir John Jackson Cup

The Tony Grover Masters Cup

The George Pearkes Challenge Cup

We will also take care of the Division 5 playoff draw, and this is the bracket link for that competition:

We do have a little business to take care of first.

No bylaw amendments, but definitely some news/updates/reminders to share.

Here is the AGENDA:

1. Roll Call

2. Reading of minutes - (Informational only, no formal meeting held last Cup Draw)

3. Business arising out of minutes

4. President Report – Jake Nemec

5. Executive Director Report – Vince Greco

6. Referees – Nathan Bird

7. Discipline – Nav Jhawer

8. Field Project – Jake Nemec

9. Other Business

a. CRC’s, Youth Permits, Team Lists, ID Cards – Vince Greco

b. Bylaws Updates. Team Handbook Updates – Scott Metson

10. Cup Draw

11. Adjournment

See you in the Maple Room next Monday !!

Vince Greco
VISL Executive Director
www.visl.org
(M)250-889-1213
(T)@vincenzo25
(I)vancouver_island_soccer_league

Posted 12/31/2022

Ref # 123

2023 VISL Allstars

Here are the Division 1 & Masters squads that will be heading over to the Mainland in search of inter Provincial bragging rights.

A special thanks to Div 1 Coach Mark Bhopal, and Masters Coach Neall Rowlings as they have spent a fair bit of time soliciting players from all teams, dealing with availability, and of course - lower/upper body undisclosed injuries. We look forward to the online bashing they will receive because of player selection, as well as performance review from VISL staff, post individual games, as they are walking off the field.

Our Defending Champion Div 1 (Open Men's) team that will be playing at 3 pm:

Salem Almardy

Tory Barbon

Wes Barrett

James Cameron

Marcus Campanile

Dorian Colopisis

Niko Cristante

Daragh Fitzgerald

Geoff Hackett

Jack Hill

Marko Ilich

Isaac Koch

Evan Libke

Ryan McCurdy

Patty Nelson

Chris Peereboom

Dan Pritchard

Blair Sturrock

Coached by Mark Bhopal & Sonny Sidhu

*-----------------*

Starting off the day will be the Finalists from last year, our Masters squad at 1 pm:

Darian Achurch

Brad Archibald

Dean Anderson

Stuart Barker

Zak Bougraine

Teko Folly

Nick Graham

Jesse Grass

Matt James

Andreas Lang

Richard Lord

Will Moore

Riley O'Neil

Neall Rowlings

Steve Scott

Alex Thammavong

Brad Thorne

Todd Vass

Jesse Winter

Coached by Neall Rowlings & Kevin James

Special thanks as well to our sponsors as this does not happen without them.......or just costs a small fortune.

Fraser Sim especially with BMT as he will be taking us over on the ferries in a large coach bus.

Steven Scott with Rocky Cross Construction as he is providing prizing for different people.

John Leier of SoccerWorld & Moreno Stefani of TeamSales for the player swag.

Brent Dobbie of Heineken as he will be providing liquid refreshments for bus travelers.

Keith Campbell of 1550's for MVP $.

Other than our own Cup Finals, this is one of our larger events.

We look forward to hosting the event next year, and including the rest of our divisions for some internal match play.

See you at Willoughby, would be nice to have hundreds of VISL fans there. :)

Have a safe and happy New Year !

Vince Greco

VISL Executive Director

www.visl.org

(M)250-889-1213

(T)@vincenzo25

(I)vancouver_island_soccer_league

Posted 10/27/2022

Ref # 118

Referee's needed

VISL Membership;

We have an opportunity that may be of interest for some of you.

It is advancing your soccer knowledge by becoming a referee.

You can do this in addition to playing, or start planning your post playing career in soccer.

There is some $ to be made, and some find it interesting........and I think it is fair to say we need more refs to supplement those that have moved away, moved up the ladder to pro ranks, or to some that probably should retire. :)

As you know, we try to support our refs as much as possible.

Overall, referee abuse and foul/abusive/insulting language towards them is down so far this year - hopefully it stays that way.

We do not like seeing refs treated that way, and we don't want to suspend people for multiple games, or even for the season.

This is where we are at these days.

As you also know, we collect fine $ from red cards.

We would like to turn some of that money into supporting members and others who might want to become referees, especially within the VISL.

See attached and/or below for official VISL notice with financial support availability.

Limited spots available, so you need to register right away as this will be the last course available this year in Victoria.

https://visl.org/upload/doc/Ref_Course_2022_2023.pdf

Host: Victoria

Course type: Referee Entry Level

Webinar: Thursday Dec 29, 2022 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

In Person: Sunday Jan 8, 2023 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Max. # of students: 30

Location: Braefoot Park Turf Field – 1359 McKenzie Ave

Host contact: Al Moir alrmoir@gmail.com / 250-216-5704

Course Fee: $129.25 + $6.46 (GST) = $135.71

Special notes This clinic consists of (2) components: (1) online webinar session via Zoom and (1) in-person session. Registration will close 1 day prior to the clinic start date and at that point you will be emailed instructions regarding Zoom access and other clinic information. Students can now access the link for the Zoom webinar session from within their Ref Centre accounts (on the left-hand side on their homepage). To receive full credit for this clinic, you must attend both sessions NO EXCEPTIONS.

Registration procedure:

Go to BC Soccer website: https://bcsoccer.net/home

Go to Referees tab

Select Register/ Host a Clinic

Select Entry Level Referee Clinics

Follow the prompts after selecting Schedule of Clinics & Registration CLICK HERE

That will take you to Ref Centre – Use the first red box to search by club/district

Select Victoria from the drop down, then register for #1883 Entry level clinic.

****Are you a VISL member? We will pay for ½ the registration cost upon course completion & pass.

****Will you officiate 3 VISL games? If so, we will then pay the other ½ of the costs at that point.

Vince Greco

VISL Executive Director

www.visl.org

(M)250-889-1213

(T)@vincenzo25

(I)vancouver_island_soccer_league

Posted 10/13/2022

Ref # 117

David Ravenhill Celebration of Life

VISL players, team admin, and referees,

Hope the season is going well for you and you are enjoying our extended summer !

This note is to specifically let you know of a couple special days coming up.

The Ravenhill family is finally able to safely have a Celebration of Life for David Ravenhill who left us 2 years ago.

The weekend Celebration starts with a public service tomorrow (Friday October 14th) at Reynolds Secondary School Gym at 3:30 PM.

Reynolds is where David spent a lot of time teaching and being a huge part of the CSE program.

Family will address those in attendance and speak of the husband, dad, uncle, brother, and family member he was.

Other school & soccer people most involved in his life will talk about how David meant so much to them and so many others.

There will be plenty of stories to share with those in attendance, and a display table or 2 to look over some of the highlights and some special photos from his life with us.

If you are unable to make the event, but would still like to tune in, you can do so as it will be live streamed.

https://www.lumeraevents.com/daveravenhill

Saturday, (Friday October 15th) we as a league are having a David Ravenhill Memorial game at UVic's Centennial Stadium.

The game will be a Masters A divisional matchup between undefeated teams Cowichan 49ers and UVic Alumni.

Many of David's teammates / opposition are on these 2 teams.

Kickoff is at 2:15 PM, and there is no charge for admission.

Post game celebrations / assigning of blame for loss - TBA. :)

Friday (at Reynolds Gym) and Saturday (at the Stadium), you will be able to pick up a limited addition tshirt donated by TeamSales.

All tshirts will be available by donation. ($20.00 per shirt is recommended)

100 % of all the funds collected will go towards the Ravenhill scholarships that are set up locally.

Hope to see you at these events, I'm sure they will be busy.

David Ravenhill was a champion of a person !

Vince Greco

VISL Executive Director

www.visl.org

(M)250-889-1213

(T)@vincenzo25

(I)vancouver_island_soccer_league