John Furlong barely had time to try on his new Vancouver Whitecaps gear when his thoughts turned to the weekend ahead and a return to his Prince George roots.
So he could be excused for his fashion faux pas Friday morning when he showed up in at UNBC Friday morning wearing a Whitecaps jacket with the factory tag still attached.
Furlong, 61, has taken on the job of handling the Whitecaps business operations as executive chair of Major League Soccer team, replacing former Whitecaps chief executive officer Paul Barber, who left the team in February.
Furlong, the CEO of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Committee for nine years, has a long history of sport affiliations, dating back to his time in Prince George as the city's recreation director in the mid-1970s and his involvement as general manager of the inaugural Northern B.C. Winter Games in 1978.
"I had been looking at taking on something new," said Furlong, the guest speaker at tonight's Bob Ewert Memorial Lecture and Dinner at the Civic Centre. "When you do something like the Olympics, not just something else will do. I'd been offered quite a few things to take on but I wanted to do something that was consistent with my character, my own values.
"I was at a dinner that [Whitecaps] owner Rick Kerfoot was at and eventually we got talking about sports and we were chatting about the challenge of running an organization like the Whitecaps. It's not just about being on the field of play, it's about building a culture, about making investments in kids to grow your own talent, and it's about being that shining jewel of a franchise. They want to be Canada's team, and we're in the second-smallest market in the MLS, and I could see myself taking that on."
Furlong's son Damien lives in Prince George and has four children, most of whom play soccer. Given the Whitecaps' history in promoting skills camps and playing games to Prince George, expect Furlong to ramp up those activities now that he's working for the team.
"The owners of the team are in this because they want every single child in the province to aspire to be a Whitecap," said Furlong. "It's a simple game, but the rules of life play out in soccer, and it's an inexpensive sport.
"Damien's kids love it and they come home happy. There's lots of soccer in Prince George and we need to be around the province. The sport needs to see the Whitecaps as the organization that's inspiring and growing kids. Not every child is going to be an all-star, but every child should have the right to play and see what it's like to kick a ball. We have to figure out a way to make this the province's team and make everybody love what we do."
