The 2025 Season in Review - and What's Next!
- Elise Coates
- Aug 16
- 4 min read
How is it already the middle of August?! What a whirlwind of a season. The 2025 League1 athletes have all hung up their red and gold for the year and are deep into preseason fun with their varsity and adult teams. Lots happened this season - let’s revisit some of the big moments before we check in with our players:
The name change: new name, same team, same game. We were incredibly excited to announce the transition of the name and brand Harbourside FC to Nanaimo United to bring the club inline with our parent club. The alignment has indeed created a more clear connection and will allow us to continue to grow opportunities for our youth players, coaches, referees, and young staff!
16 games instead of 12! This year, with the addition of new expansion teams Langley United and Evolution FC, 4 games were added to the League1 BC schedule and we saw the earliest start to the season yet. Talk about weeks on weeks of action!
Kamloops FC claimed the Reid Davidson Charity Shield. This year was the second ever Reid Davidson Charity Shield home-and-home total points competition against Kamloops FC and we were on a mission to defend the trophy. The Kamloops men’s team had a strong start to their season and claimed some early and advantageous points against us. The NUFC women crushed out two wins against Kamloops, but that wasn’t enough to secure the coveted shield. We had tons of athletes, friends and family come out to Kamloops for the final match - it was an incredible showing of community. We can’t wait to try and win it back next year.
The youngest call-up in the history of League1 NUFC. Sophia Montpetit, a Nanaimo local who plays for the U16 VI Wave crew and came up through NUFC programs, was called up for our final game of the season. The 15-year-old got playing time and crushed her first adult semi-pro experience. She is officially the youngest player to have ever been rostered by a League1 NUFC team.
What are our players up to now? Most of Nanaimo United’s athletes are varsity crushers. They play for a range of universities and colleges around the country - and even out of country!
Not all our players are collegiate youngsters - athletes like Alex Dedame and women’s captain Kate Reynolds both play for Nanaimo United’s adult teams in division 1 and premier tiers, respectively. Gustavo Giordani is off playing football elsewhere:
My preseason here in Italy will officially start Monday the 18th and will go until the 20th of next month when the league begins. I've just been hitting the gym and maintaining my fitness since our season was over. My team, Forte Colleferro Calcio a 5, will be fighting for promotion to serie B this season so it should be an exciting year. Hopefully we can reach our goal by March. It won't be an easy one but that's what makes it fun.
Gabe Altomare is at Brock this year and is “thoroughly enjoying meeting and gelling with the guys! This is a new experience and I am looking forward to it!!”
Lethbridge player Ryder Skolka is in Arizona for his preseason and is psyched about the fitness and athleticism the League1 season left him with. “Playing League1 over the summer had me coming in flying, I feel sharp and game ready from the get go. In the beep test I ended up taking first place, so I’m feeling confident and prepared for a big season ahead.”
On the women’s side, a squad of our ladies - Jade Dillabough, Avery Henderson, Kaiden Thorpe, to name a few - kicked off their VIU preseason the other week with a team bonding trip to Sproat Lake. Since then, coach Bobbie Taylor has had some stellar training lined up for them and a collection of exhibition matches.
When Alex Paul, Ava Alexander, Ruby Nicholas, and Lauren Grey weren’t on the pitch practicing with the team or crushing out games this summer, they were all coaching for Hope and Health, a program providing sport opportunities for Indigenous children and youth. Alex Paul filled us in on how her summer went and how her preseason with UVic is going:
I had a great time this summer playing for Nanaimo and working for Hope and Health was amazing. I met so many incredible people who are so passionate about soccer and making it more accessible to people who might not have the same opportunities as others, which was amazing. I was a coach along with Ruby, Lauren and Ava and we had so much fun and went on so many fun trips together. My favourite memory would either be our trip to Sechelt for a week, or dressing up as the mascot for the day in Port Hardy - that was tons of fun.
I’m super excited for my upcoming season in Victoria and I’m excited for the opportunities that will come along with the transfer [from Langara]. Preseason has been great. We just played VIU today and I saw so many familiar faces, which was so much fun.
I can’t wait to come back next summer and play with everyone again.
The University of Victoria ladies have played 4 preseason games already! Their opponents:
VIU Mariners: 7-0 for UVic
Langara: 6-0 for UVic
McGill: 3-0 for UVic
Laval: 3-1 for Laval
Nanaimo United League1 player Ruby Nicholas has scored in all but one of the games so far. Raina Hagel and Alex Paul have also gotten their names on the exhibition scoresheets. Our UVic gals’ first game of the CanWest season is on August 22 against Trinity West.
Wow! What an end to the summer and start to our players’ seasons. We can’t wait to see what skills they bring to the 2026 League1 year. Thanks for following along and be sure to stay tuned!
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