For years, amalgamation of the city's adult soccer leagues has been talked about.
Now, there's a real chance it will happen, not this year, but next.
For years, ever since the North Cariboo Senior Soccer League (NCCSSL) opened its new fields and clubhouse off 15th Avenue between Ospika and Tabor boulevards in 1998, the Prince George Women's Soccer Association (PGWSA) has looked on enviously at the men's soccer facilities.
Through mutual agreements between the two leagues. the women shared the use of the clubhouse washrooms and hosted tournaments using the men's fields, but the two league's have never shared the same address.
But momentum is gathering for the NCCSSL, PGWSA and the Prince George-based B.C. Indoor Soccer League to join forces. Discussions began last year when the women's league approached the North Cariboo league and they will meet on Tuesday for an update on the proposed amalgamation.
"It makes sense to amalgamate because we all are sort of in it for the same reason, but we have to come to terms with all the issues that come with amalgamation," said PGWSA president Kirsty Ames.
"We're hoping it will include the indoor league but we have a lot of talking to do first. We're thinking it will be a months-long process. Once a plan is hammered out, then we'll let the membership decide if they want to join."
The immediate benefit to blending the leagues is they would share administrative costs and have one centralized office which controls field bookings and referee assignments. Having access to the NCCSSL clubhouse would give the women designated changeroom facilities and they would have full access to the upstairs lounge and concession.
"I think the women's and the men's leagues will amalgamate eventually but it won't happen this year because it has to go before the annual general membership, but probably by next year," said NCSSL vice-president Kal Basi.
"So far, in taking to people, everyone seems to be on board about it. We don't see it as a detriment, we see it as a benefit. The women will be able to use all the facilities in the clubhouse, because we do have two spare changerooms, and that's where it will be good for the women.
"With the (additional) funds, we could put another set of lights on another field so we could have more evening games, because we only one field lit up. That's a big expenditure, we're looking at $150,000."
The women's league has two fields at its current facility at Michelle Lamarche Field, next to the men's league's three-field headquarters. The PGWSA also has one lit field and has talked about installing lights on its second field, and has looked into building a fieldhouse for storage.
Basi rates the NCCSSL clubhouse as the best he's seen for any club soccer league in B.C. and its plenty big enough to serve all the city's adult soccer players.
He says the merger would not be beneficial to the indoor league unless it paves the way for construction of an indoor soccer facility on land west of the women's fields on land the city now uses as a snow dump.
"If city and provincial government gives us that land, then we could put all our money together with the three leagues and youth soccer as well to build our own indoor dome with artificial turf, that would be beneficial to all the parties," Basi said. "Apparently, the city and the province are trying to make money off that property, so they're saying no right now."
The two adult outdoor leagues have worked together this spring to create a co-ed league for drop-in games on Friday nights from 6:30-8 p.m. Players registered in either league can play co-ed soccer at no additional cost, while non-members pay a $50 insurance fee to be eligible for the Friday games.
This year, the 300-player PGWSA has reduced the number of divisions from four to two. Six teams are in the Open Division and 11 teams will compete in the Rec Division, each playing a 20-game schedule. To try to create more parity in the league, the PGWSA has imposed an 11-player limit on the number of players each team can protect. The rest will be made available in a league draft, which will follow this weekend's Icebreaker tournament.
"You're supposed to have the stronger players in Div. 1 and the less-strong players in Div. 3 and 4 and that wasn't happening last year so we decided to mix it up a lot," said Ames. "Teams had to be split up and it wasn't comfortable for anyone, but it had to be done."
The league had proposed an over-30 division but plans were scrapped when only two teams decided they wanted to go that way.
A similar protected list/roster rule has applied for several years in the NCSSL in its Open Division and players will have their chance to audition today and Sunday for their respective teams in the Icebreaker tournament at North Cariboo Field. Teams will then get a chance to restock their rosters in the draft.
This year, the NCCSSL's Open Division will have just five teams now that the Prince George Youth Soccer Association under-18 Kodiaks have decided to travel for tournament games against their peer group, rather than having to play the men in a 20-game season. There are four teams Over-30 Division in the North Cariboo league and four in the Masters Division.
A North Cariboo rule change this year allows its players to play for more than one team as long as it competes in a different division. Players still must meet specific age requirements. They have to be older than 30 to play in the over-30 division or older than 45 to play for a Masters Division team. Before the change, players were limited to a maximum of eight games with another team.
The women's Icebreaker has hour-long games today and Sunday starting at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. The men are on the field for two 25-minute halves in their icebreaker games today and Sunday starting at noon, with the last games of the day starting at 3:45 p.m.
"It's basically to look at players who are either going to be drafted by teams or for the managers to look at new players because they don't know what calibre they are at," said Basi. "This year we're going to force the open Division team to draft all the players who are in the draft. We don't want players not drafted because teams don't want to pick up more players. That will stop teams turning up with not enough players (and defaulting games) in the middle of summer when they go away on holidays."
Both outdoor leagues are looking for more players and they are welcome to show up to play in the this weekend's icebreaker tournaments.
