by Glen Gibbs Peak Sports While Powell River Villa and most other clubs in the Vancouver Island Soccer League enjoy the reliability of a turf pitch, Salt Spring doesn’t and that meant cancellation of the game on Saturday.
While snow and chilly weather conditions have interrupted the schedule, Villa coach Jamie Zroback says that is the least of its problems for now.
“Our revenue has been significantly impacted by not having our home field at Timberlane,” he said. “We were promised our field back after one season and for the second year in a row without the revenue it’s starting to take its toll on us.”
Certainly attendance numbers are down at least 50 per cent or more and Zroback is putting out the call for supporters to make an effort to get to games.
Road trips cost the club approximately $1,200 and Zroback said, “we’re down $2,000 less than last year and $3,000 less than the year before. Those numbers represent expenses for close to two road trips,” he said, “and those are key factors in keeping our team alive.”
Villa has been told Timberlane will not be available for the rest of the season so its most viable option is at Brooks Turf field where it hopes to draw a large crowd, including the fans who watch for free outside the fences. Villa’s next game takes place at 5:15 pm on Saturday, November 26 at Brooks Turf against last place Gorge United FC2.
