The Quest Kermodes men's and women's soccer teams will hit the pitch for a pair of pre-season encounters on Sept. 3 and are inviting the community to come check both teams out.
The university is planning on integrating school orientation with the pair of games, along with a sidewalk sale and pig roast in anticipation of the first day of school.
The women's team will kick off the event, taking on a yet-to-be-announced team at 5 p.m., followed by the men's team taking on Mountain United FC U18 High Performance League (HPL) side at 7 p.m.
Mountain United HPL, which is made up of top young players from Burnaby and the North Shore, should prove to be a nice challenge for the Kermodes, said men's head coach Jonas Worth.
"I'm friends with the Mountain coach and I wanted them up here for a home event that there would be more people around, so the guys I'm trying to recruit would say, 'This Quest thing is actually kind of cool,'" he said.
Worth said it should be a fun atmosphere for the games.
"We're going to have a sidewalk sale and there should be some community groups with some tables there," he said. "And a pig roast, which is quite surprising considering the amount of vegetarians at Quest."
He added that there will be vegetarian options as well but it should be a fun way for new students to get oriented into the school.
"It's going to be kind of like a whole orientation party thing going on during our game," he said. "And there's going to be a lot of partying on campus that night, I'm sure."
The men's team is playing a series of exhibition games in preparation for the season, which begins on Sept. 10. Worth said he feels pretty good about his team heading into the season.
"I have to say that off the field the boys are coming together extremely well," he said. "I think it's going to take some time with such a fresh group of faces to mould into something that can perform to the level we performed at Soccerfest, but I'd say when you have off-field chemistry that usually will translate on the field later."
He also praised the work ethic of his club.
"I'm loving being on the field with them," he said. "They're a hard-working group and I think we're at least in the same position as this time last season. We are starting the season with a smaller roster than I had planned but I think the schedule favours us early."
Worth also said that he hired a strength and conditioning coach and says he thinks the team is more ready physically this year than last.
Quest will open the season with just two games in the first two weeks, as the Kermodes will have a home-and-home with the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) Timberwolves. The Kermodes will make the trek up to Prince George on Sept. 11 and then host UNBC on Sept. 17.
"I like it because we're slowly building up our match fitness this year as opposed to forcing it down their throat," Worth said.
For more information on the team, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
