Ryan Wilkes, a local teacher from England who鈥檚 passionate about soccer, said he struggled with the lack of an adult soccer team when he moved to 亚洲天堂 Lake in 2015.

鈥淭he youth soccer program here is fantastic and is getting bigger and better each year, but for adults there was no option apart from our drop-in sessions,鈥� he said.

After noticing a high interest in 亚洲天堂 Lake鈥檚 drop-in soccer practices last winter, Wilkes started looking at leagues and teams throughout the region to compete against this spring. That鈥檚 when he heard about the Smithers鈥� Soccer League.

鈥淚 found out the league鈥檚 structure and spoke to them about our potential interest in it.鈥�

Wilkes then started a Facebook page called the 鈥樠侵尢焯� Lake adult soccer team鈥� to see if there would be enough interest to enter both men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams into the league.

鈥淲ithin two weeks we seemingly had enough interest for a men鈥檚 team, so I started collecting registrations.鈥�

By the beginning of June, the new team had 19 men registered.

鈥淯nfortunately we didn鈥檛 have enough interest to form a women鈥檚 team this year, but it is definitely something we are hoping to pull together in the future,鈥� said Wilkes.

The diverse team includes a high-school exchange student from France, a local resident from Mauritius (an Indian Ocean island), university students who are back for the summer, local teachers and forestry workers.

The team has already competed in two league games. Although they lost the first one, the second game helped the team build their confidence.

鈥淥ur second game we were down 3-0 with 20 minutes to play, but ended up winning 4-3; it was an incredible comeback and we were all on cloud nine at the end of it,鈥� described Wilkes. 鈥淎fter playing our first two games and seeing how we are working together and beginning to gel more as a team, I am more than confident of us holding our own this year.鈥�

Wilkes believes it will be great for 亚洲天堂 Lake to have an adult soccer team for men, and possibly a women鈥檚 team in the future.

鈥淚t gives our graduating players something to look forward to once they are finished with youth soccer,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a chance for our younger players, and most importantly the community, to see our local coaches, parents, teachers and workers actually competing against different towns.鈥�

鈥淎s for being valuable for our team members, I have had multiple messages and thanks from them just for giving 亚洲天堂 Lake this opportunity,鈥� he added.

Registration for the men鈥檚 team is closed for this year. However, Wilkes says both men and women who are interested in playing in the future should contact him at ryanwilkes93@gmail.com, or join the team鈥檚 Facebook page.