The End of the 2026 Season!

What a fierce battle! The final showdown for the Reid Davidson Charity Shield went down in Kamloops on Saturday, with Nanaimo heading into the final leg of the home and home competition in the lead by a single goal thanks to the aggregate score. 

On the women’s side, Kamloops repeated their first leg performance back in April and secured a 1-0 win. Our lads went into their game knowing that a win by any margin was needed to secure the Shield, but Kamloops had the same idea. The teams battled back and forth in a total shut-out until the final few minutes. Kamloops scored, but Nanaimo wasn’t ready to back down. In the 94th minute, Ashton Bryant tied it up. 

Kamloops finished the competition with 2 wins and a tie for a total of 7 points and we secured 1 win and 1 tie for a total of 4 points. Congratulations, Kamloops, on winning the 2026 Reid Davidson Charity Shield! We enjoyed the battle, as always, and are already looking forward to next year!

Captain Mary Nicholls with two of Reid's family members and a Kamloops United FC player.

League Titles: Rise FC and Langley United

A few more congratulations are in order! Congratulations Langley United’s men’s team and Vancouver Rise FC Academy on their overall league titles. 

This win means that Langley will compete in the 2027 TELUS Canadian Championship, where they’ll face off against some of the country’s top professional teams. In last year’s Championship, they played a historical game against local Canadian Premier League team, Vancouver FC. They may have lost, but it was an exciting moment in BCPL’s growing history and built upon the historical victory by our very own TSS Rovers win over Valour FC in 2023! The BC Premier League to Canadian Premier League connection is growing and getting stronger every year. 

Rise will go on to compete in the Premier Soccer Leagues Canada Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship. As the women’s professional structure continues to develop, we look forward to the prospect in the near future of a Canadian Championship connecting with the Northern Super League!

What fantastic opportunities for our home-grown players!

Shout out to our photographer!

Mary Kessenich, our photographer (you may know her as @marytookaphoto), has been with us since 2024 and has been an integral part of our team! Her dedication to the BCPL media game is unparalleled. She travelled with our teams to their final game in Kamloops to capture the Charity Shield action and final moments of 2026. Thank you, Mary, for all that you do!

Men's keeper, Michael Heppelle, in full stretch.

Congratulations, NUFC Players and Coaches

The 2026 season was our strongest yet on the club connection front. Over 6 up and coming youth players joined our pro-am ranks, either as a fully rostered player or a repeat call-up - the player pathway in action. In our final game against Kamloops, 16 year old NDSS athlete Sophia Montpetit and grade 12 Dover athlete Karis Nicks made the starting roster - and 16 year-old Keana Kirby was the starting goalkeeper and was selected to the BCPL team of the week! We also witnessed a high attendance of youth NUFC players at games, excited to collect limited edition player cards, meet our BCPL athletes and get autographs, and participate in our interactive halftime shows. Too much fun!

Left to right: Sophia Montpetit, men's team, Kai Bisaro-De Faria

Our squads saw a solid group of returning veterans this year. On the women’s side, returners like Jade Dillabough, Kaiden Thorpe, and Kate Reynolds have been with us since our inaugural year. We saw a cohort of returning Victoria athletes such as Alex Paul and Bronte Fitzsimmons, back for their second season, bringing friends who wanted to join the fun. Shout-out to Bronte for an excellent year of playing out of her comfort zone, transitioning from an attacked player to a strong defensive player. Her excellence in her new position was noticed by the BCPL and she was acknowledged as a defender on their Team of the Week selection. 

Left and right: Jedda Nelson, Suka Behery

On the men’s side, Hussein Behery (Suka) and Fergus Hall went into the season as the veterans, ready to help make change and athletes such as Jimmy Steel, Michael Heppelle and Declan Brown came out of the season as game day captains, team-appointed MVPs and unsung heroes. This year featured lots of younger athletes, such as VIU first-years Adam Tsang and Liam Howe, and high schoolers Ethan Lunny and Kai Bisaro-De Faria, who brought new and noticeable energy to the mix.

Left to right: Camryn Curts, Camryn Curts (front) and Karis Nicks (behind), Mary Nicholls

The excitement and passion brought to practices and games by all the young guns this year was unmatched by anything we’ve experienced yet in our 4 years in the BCPL. Our veteran players noted the energy and fed off the vibe, mentoring these athletes as the season went on. What a great dynamic! The BCPL continues to grow and develop and so do we. We can’t wait to see what next season has in store! 

Thank you, fans and sponsors and aspiring players, for following along. The club connection and support we experienced this year wouldn’t exist without you! To all the player card signings, gourmet hot dogs, cheer squads - another year of soccer fun and camaraderie under our belts!

United!