A knee replacement six years ago forced Bill Jones, at the age of 71, to retire from the soccer pitch and the game he so dearly loves.
"I miss the game immensely, I still have the kit and boots," said Jones, who grew up playing football as a youngster in Cardiff, South Wales. "It was an enjoyable game playing in the streets and the fields. Soccer filled up a lot of time, especially in Britain when I trained for my job. I played on numerous teams and it's a game that has small financial demands."
While his competitive career may be over, the 77-year-old is still involved in the game as treasurer of the North Cariboo Senior Soccer League, a position he's held with the men's league since 1992.
Jones, a trained medical laboratory technician, moved to Prince George in 1968 for a job in the lab at the Prince George hospital, a lab that he eventually oversaw before retiring almost 19 years ago.
A centre back, he first laced up his boots in Prince George in the 1971-72 season, first on Labatt's United, a Division 1 side in the North Cariboo Soccer Association. It was the same team as Jim Briggs, Walter Hanik and a few years later, Glen Thompson.
Jones eventually switched teams to a side sponsored by City Furniture that competed in the open league.
Jones was elected president of the NCSL in 1987. The league eventually amalgamated with the Men's Recreational Soccer league in 1989 and became the North Cariboo Senior Soccer League.
As league treasurer, and with enough funds in the league's bank account, Jones worked with Thompson to oversee the completion of the current NCSSL complex that was finished in May, 1998.
Other jobs included lining the fields on game days and cleaning them up afterward.
As a player, Jones also travelled to the Okanagan to compete in over-40 and older tournaments. It kept him in shape.
About 12 years ago, with Terry Carter as president, Jones received a lifetime achievement award from the NCSL for the role he played in the league. It was the first such award handed out by the NCSL.
It came as a complete surprise to Jones, who hopes more players follow in the footsteps of the founders of the league to sustain its future.
"I'd like to see more involvement (on the board) by the young people in the league," he said. "The same people are on the executive year-in and year out."
Carter and Thompson also received lifetime achievement awards last month at the NCSSL annual general meeting.
Registration for the NCSSL is now open for this season. There are now six teams in the open division, four in the 30-plus division and four in the 45-plus division.
The season kicks off on May 9-10 with the league's annual icebreaker tournament. League games will begin the week of May 19.
